Unwanted
by Prison Song
Summary: *Complete* A tale of human emotions and how they can change. Also of how sometimes you find comfort in the person you would least expect in your time of despair. A Draco/Hermione story.
1. Chapter One

Disclaimer - The only thing that belongs to me is the plot.  
  
-=-=-=-  
  
Hermione Granger lived in a one-story brick house on Bomel Drive with her parents. Their home always smelled like plastic gloves and mint due to the fact that both of her parents were dentists. They never had candy around and their bathrooms were kept impeccably clean.   
  
She wasn't a very tall person, standing at only 5 ½ feet tall. She was also rather petite. Over the summer holidays she played field hockey with her Muggle friends to stay fit. During the school year all she did was read and study. She had long curly brown hair that reached down to her mid-back and sparkling honey colored eyes that demanded your attention when she was talking to you.   
  
Hermione was the smartest witch in her year. She learned everything she possibly could from books and had read almost all of the volumes their school library held.   
  
Once a year the Ganger family went through Spring Cleaning, only they did it in the middle of the summer. Hermione was away at school during the spring so unless they wanted to clean the entire house by themselves they waited until she was home for their summer vacation. Today was Summer Cleaning day.  
  
Hermione's job for the year was to clean out the attic. Their attic was full of old boxes; boxes containing heirlooms, photographs, and everything else significant to the family. She had to go through every single on of the boxes to make sure that mice hadn't eaten their pictures and to dust everything.   
  
This had always been her father's job but this year she had to do it because her father had been admitted into the hospital for surgery the week before and her mother didn't want to wait another two weeks until he got home. Hermione always loved looking through photo albums and such so this was a good job for her.   
  
By her fifteenth box she was getting tired of looking at photos of people she had only seen once or twice in her entire life. While shifting through moldy old papers she came across a document that seemed untouched by aging. Her mother must have thought it was important for she had it in a plastic bag to keep all moisture from damaging the black ink.  
  
The paper itself didn't look out of the ordinary. It was cream colored with a black floral boarder around the outside edge. It was what was on the paper that was so important. Her eyes scanned the page and slowly her mouth fell open in shock. She clutched her hand to her chest and let the paper float to the ground beside her.  
  
"This certificate identifies that Alexis Kelgara is hereby adopted into the family of Josef and Elizabeth Granger and is to be given the name Hermione Alexis Granger. -May 24, 1986." Thoughts pushed their way into her brain and flooded her senses. "I'm adopted? Why hasn't anyone told me this before? This is insane. I can't be adopted. How is this possible?"  
  
Gradually she found her feet pushing her up and taking her down the stairs and into the living room where her mother was cleaning, Certificate of Adoption in hand. Her mother didn't hear her come in over the vacuum but Hermione placed the document in front of her. The vacuum fell to the floor and Mrs. Granger had tears in her eyes.  
  
"When were you planning on telling me?" Hermione already had tears streaming down her own face but didn't bother to brush them away and they fell freely to the floor, showing up vividly on the freshly cleaned carpeting.  
  
"This is why you're father always cleaned the attic. I had forgotten. Oh Hermione dear we had always planned on telling you but constantly found an excuse to put it off. Either you were to busy with homework or it just wasn't the right time; we've used every justification in the book. But I suppose I can't put it off any longer. Sit down dear." Her mother took a seat on the couch and patted the cushion next to her but her daughter stood stiff as a board and stayed standing. "Hermione, when your father and I got married we tried to have children. We  
  
really did. But every time nothing happened. Finally we went to the doctor to see if there was a problem and found out I was unsuitable to have children. We really wanted a family though so we decided on adoption.  
  
I know we should have told you sweetie and I'm sorry we didn't. You just don't know how hard it was." Her mother gave her an _expression of pure love and Hermione couldn't help not being mad at her. This was the woman who had helped her grow up; done her hair, painted her nails, and cooked her dinner. It was impossible to be angry with her.  
  
She didn't say a word. Just sat down and threw her arms around her mother. "I love you mom." She said and rocked with her back and forth before pulling away suddenly. "Mom did they tell you anything about my real parents at the adoption agency?" Hermione was already on her feet and waiting.  
  
"Only a little bit. Then when you got your letter from Hogwarts we learned a bit more." Her mother was abruptly overcome with a look of extreme guiltiness. Why would Hogwarts tell you anything about my parents?" Nothing in this was  
  
adding up. The different pieces of the puzzle were starting to come together but several were still missing from the big picture. "You must not have gone through all of the boxes yet. I suppose it would be  
  
easier to show you than explain all of this." Her mother started up the ladder that led to their attic. She rummaged through four or five boxes before finding what she had been looking for. She pulled out a large envelope made of yellowed parchment and handed it to her daughter. Inside was a letter to her parents explaining everything about Hogwarts, which they gave to all Muggle parents, and about Hermione's real family. "Dear Mr. and Mrs. Granger, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry would like to offer its condolences to you and your family. It is a school where witches and wizards come to learn  
  
magic that will further along their magical abilities. As non-magic persons you have never been exposed to this world. You're adopted daughter was born from a magical family. Both of her parents had magical abilities and also attended our school. Their names were Joyce and Thomas Kelgara. If you have any questions feel free to ask but please send them by owl as Hogwarts has no means of Muggle post. Minerva McGonagall."  
  
Hermione's hands started shaking as she handed the letter back to her mother. This was too much to take-in in one day. Her mind was instantly flooded with questions she wanted to ask Professor McGonagall about her parents. "So I'm  
  
not a Mudblood. Why did they put me up for adoption? Are they still alive? Why haven't they ever tried to contact me?" "I-I-I h-have to think about-t this for a minute." She hurriedly climbed down the ladder and ran outside into the pouring rain. The weather reflected her mood; dreary and depressing. She herself was a lie. Who was she? She moved her hands up to massage her head as the sadness started to overwhelm her. Her senses were in a jumble, tangling themselves into knots and twists.  
  
She was in awe at how much pain and trouble was caused just by cleaning out an attic. She lost track of where she was going. Suddenly she looked up to find herself in a part of her neighborhood she didn't recognize. The houses were much smaller with un-kept yards and chain link fences. Her brow furrowed in as new thoughts of confusion were added to her grief. "Great now I'm lost." She muttered and turned back the way she had come. She had a lot of time to think on the way home and realized how far she must have run without noticing it.  
  
"The least they could have done was told me. I kind of have a right to know. Everything I've ever thought about my past is a lie. I'm not a Muggle-born witch. I'm pureblood. Wait till Malfoy hears that. He'll die of shock. I still don't understand how it could be so hard for them to tell me. If they had told me earlier I wouldn't be so mad about it now. Well, I guess I'm not mad just disappointed." The warm summer wind blew against her cheeks and pushed her hair out of her  
  
face. The walk home seemed to pass quickly as the thoughts in her mind whirled and trampled each other. Before she knew it she was home. She quietly crept up into her room so her mother didn't know she was there. Inside, was her cat, Crookshanks, curled up in a large ginger ball at the foot of her four- poster bed. An owl she didn't recognize was perched on her bedpost cleaning its tawny feathers.  
  
She untied the letter from the owl's leg and gave him a piece of fruit. He then soared into the sky and back to whence he came. She unfolded the parchment and began to read. It was her sixth year's Hogwarts letter with her supplies and requirements. "Suppose I should owl Ron and Harry to see when their going to Diagon Alley." As if the birds could read her thoughts, Ron's owl, Pig, suddenly came bursting through her open window in an explosion on squawks and flying feathers. Crookshanks licked his jaws and drew himself into a pouncing position but Hermione quickly grabbed the little bird and drew him to her.  
  
The cat let out a hiss but settled back onto the bed to go to sleep again. Set patted the owl's tiny head and took his letter as well. She read Ron's untidy scrawl and immediately missed her friends terribly.  
  
"Hermione - Me and Harry," 'Harry and I,' she mentally corrected. "Are going to be at Diagon Alley tomorrow at 2:30 in the afternoon to get all of our supplies and such. If you can come meet us at Flourish and Blots no later than 2:45. Hope to see you there. Ron."  
  
She wrote her mother and father a note telling them where she'd be and decided to leave a little bit early and stay at the Leaky Cauldron until Ron and Harry arrived. She slunk down the hall with her possessions and Crookshanks in hand and took a handful of Floo Powder from the vase next to the fireplace. "Diagon Alley." She whispered and took one last look around her home before the green flames engulfed her and she appeared in the Leaky Cauldron. -=-=-=- That's it for the first chapter. Tell me if you think it's worth continuing I thrive on reviews. Would live off them if they gave off any vitamins of protein.  
  
Anyway - REVIEW! 


	2. Chapter Two

Disclaimer - All things Harry Potter belong to JKR. I bow to her great writingosity.  
  
Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I love you guys so much! So here's the next chapter. At least TRY to enjoy it!  
  
A BIG thanks to Weasley Pride my beta-reader. I love you!  
  
-=-=-=-  
  
The Leaky Cauldron only had two rooms available when Hermione arrived. She was given a small room with a twin size bed, small end table, and a vanity. Crookshanks immediately scrunched up his face at his new surroundings and slumped up under the bed.  
  
"I believe you'll find it to your likings miss." The Innkeeper told her and tipped his hat as he waited in the doorway for his tip. "It may be a bit small but you didn't make a reservation so we had to make do."  
  
"No it's fine. Thank you." She gave the man several sickles and began to unpack her Hogwarts trunk. The spellbooks looked old and worn compared to everything else that occupied the trunk. She had read them countless times. But of course the most tattered one was 'Hogwarts, A History.' Ever since her first year at school Ron and Harry had gotten into some trouble that she needed to look up in that book. It was their source for all of the answers to their many problems.  
  
She fingered the book's spine and laid it down on her bedside table. She had to make sure not to forget that book; they would most definitely need it this year. She then turned back to the rest of the belongings in her trunk. Her new dress robes shone ebony from underneath her normal school robes and winter cloak. For her birthday, her parents had bought her new dress robes. Being a woman and developing in the ways women develop, her old ones were too small in the chest area.  
  
  
  
Harry and Ron wouldn't arrive for another six days. Hermione finally resolved to go to Gringotts to retrieve some money from her parents' vault where they kept a small portion of their finances converted to wizarding money for her use. From there, she could go ahead and purchase her supplies and have time to try them out before her friends arrived.  
  
It was still two weeks before school started so not many students were out shopping this early. She spotted Lavender Brown who gave her a cheeky smile and flailed her hand to wave at her from across the street and gave her a small wave back before turning the other direction so she wouldn't have to talk to the girl. She saw Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan eating ice cream at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor and stopped to chat for a few minutes, then continued on her way.  
  
Hermione soon discovered that shopping just wasn't as much fun alone. It was much less exciting and you didn't have anyone to talk you out of buying something stupid or hideous. She first bought all of her supplies she was required to have for classes and then returned to Flourish and Blots for some extra reading material.  
  
She found several extra books on Arithmancy, her favorite subject, and two on the history of witches and witchcraft. That would keep her occupied for a while. Or at least until her friends arrived.  
  
The streets grew more crowded as she made her way back to her room around lunchtime. She would go into the Cauldron later and get something to eat. She kicked open her door and staggered under the weight of her supplies over to the bed. The books finally fell from her arms when she was about one and a half feet away and landed on the floor with a bang.  
  
The occupant of the next room grumbled loudly and banged their arm against the wall. Hermione, resisting the urge to chunk one of her books at him, began to place all of her new things either on her bedside table or in her trunk.  
  
"Ron and Harry won't be here for another six days. What in the world am I going to do? I'll die of boredom before then. I've finished all my homework and essays and already pre-read most of the material for this year." She plopped down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. The ceiling wasn't very interesting to look at. It was more or less a big white square with several darker places from where the roof had leaked. Needless to say staring at it didn't amuse her for very long.  
  
She slowly lifted herself up with her arms and grabbed one of her new books from the bedside table. Propping her upper body up with a pillow she began to read. She read for several hours, then, looking out the window she realized it was dark outside and she needed to go to sleep.  
  
The remaining five days Hermione spent in the Leaky Cauldron until Ron and Harry arrived, were spent much in the same way. She finished all of her books with the exception of, "Arithmacy Throughout the Ages, A Study of Things too Confusing to Comprehend," and had to agree with them; it was too confusing to comprehend. Sighing, she put the book in her trunk and shut the lid.  
  
Harry and Ron were due to arrive within the hour so Hermione slowly made her way to the ice cream parlor where she ordered a vanilla cone and sat at one of the many small green tables outside. Being men, Harry and Ron were thirty minutes late. By the time they got there she had already finished her cone and was getting quite cross with the unusually warm weather. When she saw them she hopped up from her little chair and hugged the two of them at once around their necks.  
  
Ron screeched and pulled away, rubbing the tender skin on the back of his neck where she could see a bright red sunburn. Hermione just laughed and Harry tried to hide a grin from his best friend. Ron grumbled something neither of them heard and headed for Quality Quidditch Supplies.  
  
Ron had been on the team since their fifth year. After Oliver Wood had left Hogwarts, a seventh year took over the keeper position but then had to leave at the end of that year so Ron got the spot. His older brothers, with the exception of Percy, had all pitched in some of their savings and gotten him a used Firebolt as a congratulations present.  
  
"Ron you're broom is gorgeous why do we need to go in here?" Harry said although by the time they reached the shop he was practically drooling over the new Draywert 7 in the display window.  
  
"Harry please don't tell me you're going to buy that because you know some freak accident will happen this year resulting in you getting the best broom on the market. Don't waste your money." Hermione grabbed Ron and Harry's sleeves and pulled them off to get their new robes fitted for the year.  
  
"Hermione I don't get to buy new robes remember? Can't I just go back to the Quidditch Shop?" Ron whined and pulled the sleeve of his Weasley sweater away from her.  
  
"Ron, if you don't have the money for new robes, then you don't have money for a new broom. No, come wait with me for Harry." Ron knew she was right so he shut his mouth and followed her into the shop. It always took Harry a bit longer to get his robes fitted than everyone else because Madame Malkins insisted on carrying on conversations with him instead of doing her job.  
  
Hermione incessantly tapped her foot on the ground and drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair until Madame Malkins finally realized she should be fitting Harry's robes. It only took a few short measurements to fit his robes, then all that was required were two or three quick flicks of her wand and Harry was ready to go.  
  
It took them a lot longer to buy their supplies than it had Hermione. The boys wanted to look in various shops and check out all the new gadgets that weren't on the school supplies list but would still be really fun to have. If Hermione hadn't have been there they probably never would have finished or wouldn't have had enough money to finish.  
  
It ended up taking them over three hours to buy the twenty-two objects on the list. Then Hermione allowed them to go look in the Quidditch shop if they had any extra money to spend. Harry, of course, still had a pocket full of Galleons and even Ron had a few Sickles and Knuts left.  
  
They took an hour in Quality Quidditch Supplies. Ron ended up buying a new Chudley Cannons t-shirt and Harry got a can of cushioning oil for his broom handle, "guaranteed to soften your ride."  
  
The three walked back to the Leaky Cauldron to get to their respected rooms. The Weasleys were all staying in three rooms across the hall from Hermione's room.  
  
"See you tomorrow for the train, 'Mione." Harry said and gave her a hug goodnight.  
  
"Yeah, tomorrow." Said Ron.  
  
"Actually, do you think you two could come in for a minute? I need to talk to you." Hermione said and unlocked the door to her own room.  
  
"I s'pose so." Ron glanced around for any bright red hair coming their way. "If mom catches us out of bed past nine it'll be on your head."  
  
Harry and Ron came into the small room and sat on the bed as their friend paced the room in front of them. Hermione went through the vigorous process of explaining the previous events. She had to stop several times to catch her breath before continuing. When Hermione got into something she tended to talk very fast and use her hands a great deal, which can be very tiring.  
  
"Woah." Was all either Harry or Ron could say for several minutes afterward. Harry regained his head first and started talking.  
  
"Wait, so you're - woah." He put his head in his hands and ran his hands through his unruly black hair.  
  
"Yeah." Hermione slumped down into the armchair in the corner of her room. Crookshanks slowly crept out from underneath the bed and jumped into her lap. She was the only one who could ever tame him. He hated everyone else.  
  
"You'll be okay 'Mione. I promise. We're here for you. Remember that. You can't get rid of us." Ron pulled her up to sit in-between the two larger boys. They each put an arm around her and held her for a moment before an angry Molly Weasley burst through the door.  
  
"I should have known I'd find you two here. Leave poor Hermione be. She needs her sleep for the train too. Off to bed both of you!" She pulled the two boys up and then turned to Hermione. "Sleep well dear. Congratulations on making Prefect." She then pulled both of the boys of the room by the scruffs of their collars.  
  
Harry had stayed the entire summer with the Weasleys. The Dursleys had finally had enough of their nephew and left him out to fend for himself in Surrey. Ron had picked him up with his father in a redesigned version of their old flying car. Mrs. Weasley had taken to treating him like she would any of her other five sons and gave him no special treatment.  
  
Hermione changed into her flannel pajamas and climbed under the thin summer blanket on her bed. Almost immediately Crookshanks curled his ginger body up at her feet. She once again found herself staring at the ceiling and thinking.  
  
"I'm going back to school tomorrow. I'm glad; I'd be bored out of my mind if I were here another day. Even with Harry and Ron here. I missed them so much. It's nice to have someone to talk to that actually talks back. Crookshanks can be good company but he has no idea what's going on in my life. Come to think of it, neither do I. Everything got so confusing so fast.  
  
I guess I won't tell anyone at school, unless I absolutely have to. They don't really have to know; It's none of their business. I do need to talk to Dumbledore though. He could have at least told me something. I can catch him after the first Prefects' meeting. He heads those I think. I'll ask Percy. I wonder if he knows even more than he told my parents." Hermione's thoughts slowly but surely calmed her mind. She found her eyes drifting shut and soon she was sound asleep.  
  
-=-=-=-  
  
That's it for the second chapter. I thought it was pretty good. Took me long enough to write. I couldn't get any information. If I got the name of the robe lady wrong I'm sorry. I couldn't remember what it was so I had to my very good friend. She's normally right so I hope she was this time. Thanks EK.  
  
I know nothing big has happened so far and it might seem a bit dull but stick with me. I'm just trying to get in all the background information in so the plot makes sense.  
  
Anyway - You took the time to read it so please REVIEW! 


	3. Chapter Three

Disclaimer - Since I have exactly $10.42 to my name I obviously do not own Harry Potter. JKR has that privilege.  
  
-=-=-=-  
  
The next day, Hermione and her two companions boarded the train and sat in their usual compartment near the back. Harry and Ron chatted casually about the Quidditch World Cup they had gone to see over the summer. England had lost, but only by twenty points. Ireland pulled off the narrow victory.  
  
Hermione sat with her back against the wall pondering all that had happened the previous week. Her mind hadn't stopped spinning since that telltale day in the attic. Sooner or later, she knew she would move on, but for the time being she was stuck on the subject of her newfound history.  
  
It wasn't until Malfoy and his cronies made their annual visit to their compartment that she was snapped out of her daze. She looked up from her hands to see him leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest and the signature smirk on his face.  
  
"Well if it isn't Pothead, Weasel, and the Mudblood. Together again." He stood up straight and stared at them, daring any one of them too challenge him.  
  
"Take off Malfoy before we make you." Ron sneered at him and rolled up his sleeves. He stood up so that he was looking eye to eye with the pale blonde boy. Draco didn't even flinch. His gray eyes burned holes in Ron's brown* ones. The redhead was taken aback for a moment but recovered soon enough.  
  
"Oh, a threat from a Weasley. I'm shuddering in my boots." Harry jumped up, and lucky for all of them, the witch who ran the snack trolley came at that very moment and interrupted their encounter.  
  
Malfoy looked rather disappointed as he turned on his heel and left. Crabbe and Goyle stayed a moment longer giving them the most menacing looks they could manage but then followed their leader back to their own compartment.  
  
"I don't know what that guy's problem is." Harry said, after he had taken his seat again. His cheeks were still flushed from anger, and it made his bright green eyes stand out even more. Slowly, he returned to normal and put his head in his hands.  
  
"He has lots of problems." Hermione stated simply and went back to looking at her palms. "Pick one."  
  
"Amen to that." Ron went and took his seat next to Harry again. It didn't take them long to begin their Quidditch World Cup discussion all over again. It amazed Hermione how they could have the exact same conversation over and over again. They even said the same things. It was astounding.  
  
Crookshanks was purring in a very large ginger fluff ball at her feet. She stroked him as softly as she could manage with her shoes on. He slowly drifted off into his dreamless cat sleep, and she decided to read a book. She rooted through her bag until she came across, "Advanced Charms," and began to read the yellowed pages again.  
  
She had read it twice over the summer for lack of things to do. She hadn't been able to try the charms out yet, of course, since she wasn't allowed to do magic over the summer holidays, but she learned by reading.  
  
The train lurched to a halt and the threesome was thrown forward in their compartment. They went about their business with gathering their belongings and stepped off the train. They left their trunks in the pile with everyone else's and climbed into one of the carriages waiting to lead them to the castle.  
  
Once inside the school, they made their way to the Great Hall for the yearly Beginning of Term feast and talked amongst themselves while awaiting the First Year Sorting Ceremony.  
  
The new students filed into the large room with looks of fear and excitement on their faces. There were fewer students than usual, this year. Normally, at least seventy-five students came to the school; this year they numbered only fifty-four. As usual they were split up fairly equally into the four houses.  
  
Professor Dumbledore stood to say his short speech. "Welcome, new students. We are pleased to have you with us this year and hope you enjoy your stay. I would like to point out to all students that the Forbidden Forrest is still forbidden. Some of you seem to forget this." His eyes flashed to Harry and gave him a wink before he continued. "I would also like to say that this year we will be having another Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Please join me in welcoming Professor Joyeux Rire."  
  
Everyone clapped and a thin witch sitting next to Professor McGonagall stood up. She smiled broadly at the students and waved slightly. She took her seat again and the feast began.  
  
"So what do you think of the new Professor?" Harry asked after everyone had eaten a bit.  
  
"She has to be better than the one last year." Ron was referring to Professor Beacon who was like a combination of Binns and Snape. All he did was read to them but if you spoke out of line he would take loads of point off. "Plus, we've never had a female Defense teacher so that should be interesting. What do you think Hermione?"  
  
"What? Oh. I think she'll do a good job. She looks like she knows what she's doing. I saw her hold her ground against Snape a minute ago, so at least she's not scared of him like Quirrel was." She hadn't really been listening to the conversation, but hearing her name caught her attention. She had been staring into space thinking, once again, about her parents.  
  
"You okay, Hermione? You're a little bit distant lately." Harry asked while he reached across the table for another chicken leg.  
  
"Fine. Just, you know, thinking." She pushed the food around on her plate with her fork.  
  
"Well, that's understandable. You have a lot to think about. You want to go on back to the Commonroom and talk about it?" Ron looked up from his meal and waited for her reply.  
  
"Yeah." She said slowly after a moments thought. "Yeah, I'd like that."  
  
The threesome stood up together and made their way to the portrait of the fat lady. Hermione spoke the new password (Maerd) and they sat by the fireplace.  
  
"What's on your mind, Hermione?" Harry started off the conversation that night. None of them knew where it would lead or what it would end up meaning. That night they were just three friends helping one another through a problem.  
  
"Guys, I think I want to find my parents." Hermione knew they would support her in whatever she decided, but they would give her their flat out opinion of her decision first. So she sat and waited for it.  
  
"You what?" Ron sat there looking flummoxed. Neither of them had expected this at all. Hermione was the responsible one. She never started their adventures; she was the one who found a way to fix them. Yet here she was, ready to go off into the unknown to look for people she had never met and had no idea where they were.  
  
"I want to find my real parents." She had expected opinions, not stupidity. But then again, normally whatever you want from guys you don't get.  
  
"Are you sure about this 'Mione? You could get really disappointed here." Harry looked at her skeptically like she had lost her mind.  
  
"Yes, I'm sure. I'm going to go ask Dumbledore if he can help me locate them sometime this week. I don't really care if you guys are in on me with this one. It's kind of my own battle." She stood and sat between them on the couch. She enveloped them both in a group hug and sighed against their shoulders. "You have no idea how much this means to me."  
  
"I do, Hermione. If I had a chance to see my parents I'd take it in a heartbeat." Harry said thoughtfully as he and Ron held their friend.  
  
"Okay, thanks, Harry. I'm going to go to bed now. I'll see you two bright and early." She hugged them each separately and walked up the stairs.  
  
Harry and Ron stayed behind to talk a bit more.  
  
"I'm worried about her Harry." Ron said and watched her retreat. "She's been acting really weird the past few days."  
  
"She's allowed to be weird right now Ron. You'd be weird too if you found out you were adopted this late in your life." Harry stared into the fire and watched the flames lick at the gray stone surrounding it.  
  
"There's no way I'm adopted. I have the hair." Ron too turned to the fire for council. Soon their talk turned to Quidditch once again.  
  
-=-=-=-  
  
*The color of Ron's eyes is debatable. They vary in different stories but I decided to make them brown here for no significant reason.  
  
I had a whole other part to this chapter I wanted to include but decided that it would make the chapter too long so it's going to be the next one. Once I write it. I spent a while debating whether to write it yet or not and decided against it.  
  
Anyway - I hope you enjoyed it and I promise the background information is going to be finished by the next chapter and the interesting parts will start. This will probably end up being my longest story yet. Just to warn you.  
  
Review please! 


	4. Chapter Four

Disclaimer - Not mine, don't sue.   
  
It has been brought to my attention that Ron's eye color is in fact blue not brown so I apologize for making them brown in the previous chapter. Thank you to Tickle The Dragon for pointing this out to me.   
  
I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far, so - thanks!   
  
To answer of your questions the romance really won't start for a while. Sorry. I promise that the action will start in this chapter or the next though so it will be a little more interesting for you. 'Mione is Hermione's nickname. It's easier than typing Hermione all the time so I use it when they're just talking sometimes. I think that's all the questions. If you have any more feel free to ask.   
  
I want to give a huge thanks to Weasley Pride and Casper; my beta-readers.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
Hermione lay awake in her bed for a long time before sleep found her. Parvati and Lavender were chattering incessantly from their beds, but that wasn't what kept her awake. She was once again thinking about her parents. The canopy above her bed billowed softly in the breeze and she watched it until sleep finally took its claim on her, and she drifted off.   
  
The next day classes started. She groggily pulled on her school uniform and robes. The Commonroom was full of bustling students trying to find their quills and talking excitedly about their lessons. The first years all stood in a little bunch near the corner of the room. Hermione felt sorry for them; their first lesson of the year was Potions with Slytherin.   
  
Harry and Ron were sitting on a couch playing Wizard Chess in an attempt to calm their nerves. Hermione joined them, but both were so absorbed in the game that they didn't notice until Ron had defeated Harry.   
  
"Hey, 'Mione." Harry said and collected his broken pieces. He placed them side-by-side in their box and closed the lid so they could go about repairing themselves.   
  
"Morning, Harry. Morning, Ron." Hermione yawned and stretched. The first day of classes was always tiring, even before it started.   
  
Breakfast was served in the Commonrooms to give the students one less thing to do in the morning. The threesome each grabbed a scone and a piece of fruit and ate them on the way to their first class, Charms.   
  
There were only a few other students in the classroom when they arrived. They quickly took seats near the middle of the room before they were all taken. Their fellow classmates filed through the door in little clusters, and soon the bell rang to start class.   
  
"Good morning, students!" Flitwick squeaked from atop his podium in front of his desk. "Now, since this is your first day back we won't have a real lesson. All I want you to do is review your charms from last year. One by one you will perform your favorite one for me and then after everyone has completed that you are dismissed." A cheer swelled from the students and wands were quickly whipped out to start practicing.   
  
Hermione, Harry, and Ron practiced quickly and mastered their charms before everyone else so they could have a chance to talk.   
  
"Hermione are you sure you're going to go through with this whole talk to Dumbledore thing?" Ron whispered out of hearing range of everyone else. "I mean, do you realize how much you're risking?"   
  
"I never thought I'd see the day where you were the voice of reason, Ron." Hermione smiled a bit but it quickly faded when the matter at hand reentered her mind. "And yes I'm sure. I need to know where I came from. Is that a crime?"   
  
"No, of course not. It's just-" Hermione quickly cut him off after his answer.   
  
"Then why are you treating me like a criminal?" She always had a way with turning people's words back on them. It was one of her many talents.   
  
"Just forget it." Ron sighed and sat back in his chair, careful not to make eye contact with Hermione or Harry. Harry hadn't joined in on their little quarrel, he never did. He never knew whose side to take. Either way he went, someone would end up mad at him, so he stayed out. Now, it was his turn to reason with Hermione.   
  
"Are you feeling okay, 'Mione?" Harry moved over to sit in the empty chair next to her. His eyes were filled with concern when he lifted up her face to look at him.   
  
"Fine. I just really wish you two would support me on this instead of trying to stop me. I need to do this Harry; I have to do this." She tried to smile at him but failed when tears began to gather at the corners of her eyes. She brushed them away with the sleeve of her robe before anyone saw.   
  
"We do support you. I promise. It's just, we don't want to see you get hurt." Harry took her hand in both of his and squeezed softly. Flitwick walked over to their table so they would perform their charms. Harry and Hermione completed theirs flawlessly but Ron, still angry, held his wand backwards and the charm aimed at the wall hit him and he found himself slowly turning into stone.   
  
"Oh my God! Somebody help me!" Ron dropped his wand and flailed his arms around in an attempt to slow the transformation. Professor Flitwick quickly recovered from the initial shock of having one of his students turn to stone and preformed the opposite charm so soon Ron was back to normal. Hermione seemed to think that Ron had suffered enough for their quarrel and the two were talking again.   
  
The rest of the day went by with no unexpected surprises unless you count Neville falling down the stairs and getting sent to the hospital wing, but you can hardly call that a surprise.   
  
Hermione sat across from Harry at dinner. She loaded her plate up with various types of foods, but didn't eat anything; just pushed it around on her plate with her fork.   
  
"You gonna eat that?" Ron said and pointed at her roll. She shook her head and handed it to him.   
  
"Hermione, you haven't eaten anything." Harry commented when the plates cleared themselves. Hermione had always been thin but she always at least ate.   
  
"Not hungry." She mumbled. "Too much on my mind, you know."   
  
"Right." Ron and Harry said at the same time and then turned to talk to Seamus and Dean.   
  
"I think I'm going to talk to Dumbledore after dinner." That caught their attention. They both whirled around looking rather startled.   
  
"A-Are you sure? Absolutely positively one hundred percent sure?" Ron stuttered and nearly choked on the last piece of his chicken leg.   
  
"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Hermione muttered more to herself than to anyone else. "Let me repeat it one more time and then I'm not going to say it again. Yes, I'm sure. And I'm going to talk to him after dinner once he gets back into his office."   
  
Neither Harry nor Ron said anything. They didn't know what to say. They just looked at the table and nodded. They knew they couldn't stop her and there was no point in trying.   
  
After dinner, they each hugged her and wished her luck before she made her way to Dumbledore's office for their meeting. She said the password (Chocolate Frog) and climbed the spiral staircase into the circular room. The Professor was busy filling out many rolls of parchment at his desk.   
  
"Umm - Professor? I was wondering if I could talk to you." Hermione said quietly and approached the desk. He looked up from his work and gave her a small smile.   
  
"Of course Ms. Granger. Please, do sit down." He summoned a chair from the corner of the room for her. He folded his hands over the papers and waited while she sat down. "What is it you wanted?"   
  
"Well sir, you see, I found out this summer that I was adopted. And I was wondering if you could tell me a little more about my parents. You know, my real ones. I only know they were students here." She said the last three sentences all in one breath but he managed to catch it all.   
  
"I was wondering when they were going to tell you." He smiled and the familiar light twinkled in his eyes. "Let's see, you're parents as I remember them were some of the most diverse in their year. Your mother was in Ravenclaw. Smart as a whip that one. They both were. Guess it's genetic." He winked at her. "She was a school Prefect too."   
  
"You're father was in Slytherin." She cringed at this. A Slytherin? "He was very cunning. Always thinking of ways to outwit his classmates. They both liked to do that from time to time. Incredibly bright, they were. If I recall this correctly, they got married only a few days after graduation, hopelessly in love. No one thought they would ever make it, being in different houses as they were, but they did. Professor Snape was crushed when they wed-"   
  
"Snape? What does he have to do with my parents?" Hermione cut in, not caring whether she was being rude or not.   
  
"Well, your father was his best friend back in their school days. Did almost everything together. Rather inseparable, much like yourself and Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley. When they got married, your father and Professor Snape drifted apart. I don't know if they talked after the wedding. Your parents moved to Hogsmeade and Professor Snape came to work for me."   
  
Hermione was wide eyed. Snape, her father's best friend? This was just too weird. The man she hated most was the man who had at one time been closest to her birth father. She shook her head in disbelief.   
  
"And where are they n-now?" She asked quietly; not able to look up at him.   
  
"I believe they still reside in Hogsmeade. They run a bookshop if I'm not mistaken." He answered her carefully. He had always been able to steer clear of making his students more upset than they already were by knowing the right thing to say and how to say it.   
  
"Thank you Professor." Hermione stood and quietly made her way out of the room. Dumbledore gave her a reassuring smile and returned to his paperwork.   
  
The walk back to the Commonroom seemed to take a long time. The hallway grew as she walked down, staring straight ahead. How would she ever be able to hate Snape with the same vengeance again? From time to time her shoulder would bump into the wall but she took no notice of it. She was in a daze and oblivious to the world around her.   
  
Harry and Ron were waiting up for her when she finally arrived in the room. She lowered herself onto the couch next to Ron and just sat, not looking at anything. Slowly, she started to shake, and once she started she didn't stop. It was almost as if she was shivering only she wasn't cold. Her emotions had numbed her out and she was empty, not feeling anything.   
  
The next day, she didn't remember Harry and Ron carrying her up the stairs, frightening her roommates when they took her to bed, or tucking her in. She didn't remember their worried expressions or the way they talked in hushed voices while she was shaking on the couch. All she remembered was that she had parents, and that they were alive.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
That's it for chapter four. See? I told you the plot would kind of start to develop. It gets more complicated though, I promise. Anyway I hope you enjoyed it. It was a bear to write. No inspiration.   
  
Sorry it took so long to get up. I have been so uninspired but I finally decided I had to just sit down and write it anyway so if it sucks, I blame that. Sorry. REVIEW! 


	5. Chapter Five

Disclaimer - You know the drill. I obviously don't own anything but the plot.   
  
For all of you who want Draco in this story I'm pretty sure he begins to make his appearances in this chapter. You can cheer now.   
  
ATTENTION ALL READERS - On January 10 I will be changing my pen name on this site from Katie Crickett to Selvagem. Thank you for reading and please try and remember!  
  
-=-=-=-   
  
Hermione unwillingly got herself out of the comforts of her bed the next morning and jumped into a cold shower to wake her up. The icy water poured over her and slowly she regained her senses. Soon she realized that she would have to get out of the shower if she planned on getting to class on time.   
  
Twenty minutes later, she was in the Great Hall eating breakfast with Harry and Ron.   
  
"Sleep well?" Ron asked between bites. He swallowed his mouthful of bacon and looked at her from across the table.   
  
"I think so. I don't really remember getting to bed or anything." Hermione yawned and reached over Harry to the roll basket.   
  
"You wouldn't." Harry mumbled.   
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" She retorted. She hadn't done anything wrong this morning and they were already being rude.   
  
"Nothing. Forget I said anything." He said with a sigh before changing the subject. "So what do we have first today?"   
  
"Double potions." Ron groaned. "With them." He pointed to the far side of the room where the Slytherin table was located. They were a very solemn looking bunch. None of them were talking or even looking at each other. None of them had moved by the time the threesome left to get to class.   
  
They knew that Potions wouldn't be a cheerful class, it never was, but they had no idea just how uncheerful it was going to be. Sixth and Seventh years at Hogwarts were required to take advanced Potions. Which means the class would be harder and longer than it had been in the past.   
  
No sooner had the last student taken their seat than Snape came storming into the classroom, his normal long black robes billowing out behind him. He stood at the front of the class and glowered out at the students in front of him.   
  
"You are in Advanced Potions now. If you can't do it I will not baby you and I will not pity you. Try to keep up." He turned back to his desk and sat. Hermione watched him do everything. As much as she tried she couldn't find the same hate that she had for him before. It was very hard to hate your father's old best friend and as much as she tried she just couldn't. This didn't mean she liked him, no one liked him, but she didn't loathe him as much now.   
  
He stood up from his desk after a matter of minutes and walked through the aisles of desks.   
  
"You will each have a partner for this year; all year. There will be no changes in pairings and I don't care whether you like them or not. Now Weasley, Parkinson; Potter, Zabini; Granger, Malfoy-" He continued to list off partners. Hermione groaned. All year being stuck with that prick. She gathered her books and plopped down into the empty seat next to the blonde Slytherin.   
  
"Let's make the best of this." She muttered. Malfoy hadn't acknowledged her presence yet, and that was fine with both of them. If they each stayed out of each other's way maybe they could survive this partnership. Snape had started to speak again, and their attention was drawn to the front of the classroom.   
  
"I'm sure many professors will go easy on you this week since it is the first week back at school. Do not expect that here or get ready for a great disappointment. Today we will be making a simple yet vital potion. Many wizards use it to heal cuts and scrapes. It is called the Terniw Potion and you will start by-"   
  
Hermione and Draco finished listening to the instructions and then opened their books to the respected page. They silently divided up the duties and each began to get their ingredients ready. Without saying a single word they completed the potion flawlessly and received full marks for the day.   
  
'Maybe this won't be too bad.' Hermione thought. 'As least if I'm working with Snape's pet he won't take points off my work.' Class was almost over but they had yet to store their potion. Draco went about putting it into vials and putting the vials in the storeroom.   
  
They had gone through the entire class without saying a word to eat other. Not even an insult thrown. When Snape dismissed them from class Draco simply left to join his fellow house members. Hermione met up with Harry and Ron outside.   
  
"So how was it?"   
  
"Was it terrible?" Hermione didn't know which of them had asked which question so just answered both of them with one response.   
  
"It actually wasn't that bad. We didn't talk at all. Maybe I'll survive this." Harry and Ron looked hesitant to accept her answer so soon, but didn't say anything else on the rest of the walk to Defense Against the Dark Arts.   
  
The room was abuzz by the time they got there and most of their classmates had already arrived. Everyone was excited about the new teacher. The second years had been in her class yesterday and they had all said she was great. The only seats left were in the back so the threesome reluctantly took them before Professor Rire arrived.   
  
Even the late stragglers got to class and into their seats before Professor Rire arrived; she was late. Everyone sat quietly in their seats for almost ten minutes before a rather flushed young witch came running into the classroom. She stood bent over in front of the room trying to catch her breath.   
  
"Sorry for being," breath, "so late." Breath, "I got a little," breath, "bit lost." She finally managed to say. Once she had recovered herself she looked out at the students and smiled. "Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts. I am your teacher, Joyeux Rire. I don't care what you call me. I understand that you have had some pretty bad professors in this class, is that right?"   
  
"Yes!" The class shouted and Rire jumped. She hadn't been expecting that much of a response.   
  
"Well then I hope I won't be another one to add to your collection. Let's see, I might as well tell you a bit about myself before we begin the year together. As you already know my name is Joyeux Rire. I was born in Paris, France, and grew up there when I wasn't here at school."   
  
"You went to Hogwarts?" Dean Thomas asked.   
  
"Yes, I did. And it hasn't changed a bit. Dumbledore was my Headmaster too. Transfiguration was always my favorite subject. Let's see, is there anything else I can tell you? Well, after Hogwarts, I became an Auror, but I didn't like that much. So when Dumbledore asked me to come here, I came and here I am."   
  
"Why didn't you like being an Auror?" Harry asked quietly from the back of the room.   
  
"Well, I don't really know for sure. I guess there's one job for everyone and that just wasn't mine. There was too much pressure on me. I don't function well under pressure." She said thoughtfully. Harry nodded and looked down at the table.   
  
"Alright then. I should start your lesson shouldn't I?" The class murmured a disappointed yes. "That's what I thought. Don't worry, the first one won't be difficult. All I want you to do is write a minimum of three paragraphs telling me what you learned last year so I know where to start." Everyone groaned. "Oh come on. It's not that bad. I could make it worse." Everyone quietly began to work before she did make it worse.   
  
By the end of class everyone except Hermione, who felt that she had to tell the new Professor every single little thing they learned last year, had turned in their papers. She completed hers and handed it in right as the bell rang.   
  
"Thank you, Ms. Granger." Professor Rire said when she was given Hermione's paper, and her eyes grew wide when she saw how much was on it. "See you next class."   
  
"Right. Bye." Hermione left to join her friends outside. "So what do you think of her? I think she'll be a lot better than any of the others, except maybe Lupin. It's hard to get better than him."   
  
"I think she's hot." Ron said and Hermione elbowed him in the ribs. "Ow!"   
  
"She's definitely better than Lockhart." Harry said. "I think she'll be fun."   
  
"Hey, Lockhart was not that bad." Hermione defended their old teacher.   
  
"Yes he was." Harry and Ron said in unison and Hermione knew they were right and dropped the subject. The threesome split at the stairway to go to their separate classes, Hermione to Arithmancy, which she had to take everyday and Harry and Ron to History of Hogwarts. Hermione didn't take that class since she had read the book so many times.   
  
That night in the Commonroom, Hermione finally told her friends about her talk with Dumbledore.   
  
"So they've lived in Hogsmeade all this time and you never knew?" Ron said in a hushed voice. The room was still fairly crowded.   
  
"Yeah. They run the one and only bookstore there. Can you believe it? I must have been in that store a million times and never known." Hermione whispered back. She was still having trouble believing it. It was just too much of a coincidence.   
  
"So are you going to do anything about it?" Harry was almost scared of the answer to his question.   
  
"Yes. Next time we go to Hogsmeade for the day I'm going to go see them." Harry and Ron both gave her an "Are you sure?" look. She knew that look. They had been giving it to her a lot over the past few days. She sent one back that said, "Yes and stop asking." They gave up and wished her goodnight before going to bed.   
  
Hermione stayed downstairs looking into the flames of the fire until her eyelids fluttered shut and she fell asleep on the couch.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
The next morning she was awakened by the sound of people moving about in the room around her. She sleepily sat up and rubbed her eyes. She realized the time and rushed upstairs to quickly get ready for class. She just barely made it back downstairs before Harry and Ron left without her.   
  
"Why are you so late?" Harry asked as they hurriedly walked down the hall towards the Transfiguration room.   
  
"Fell asleep on the couch last night and I overslept." Hermione answered and just nearly caught her book as it fell from her arms.   
  
"Hermione overslept? This has never happened before. Alert the Daily Prophet!" Ron teased and narrowly avoided being hit in the stomach.   
  
"Cut it out." She glared at them both and took her seat in class.   
  
"Welcome back, class. I'm glad to see you all-" But Hermione didn't hear the rest of McGonagall's welcoming speech. She suddenly found the world around her fading away into darkness. The sound of the Professor's voice also grew quieter and quieter until it was altogether gone.   
  
In place of the classroom Hermione found herself looking around a room she had never seen before. It looked much like the Gryffindor Commonroom only decorated in yellow and blue. She guessed it must be the Hufflepuff Commonroom. Two boys entered through a tapestry on the north wall. One of them she recognized as Justin Finch-Fentley and she knew she had the other in one of her classes but she didn't remember his name.   
  
Justin was talking to the other boy but she couldn't hear what he was saying. She called out to him; neither of them took notice of her. She walked up and tapped Justin on the shoulder but her hand went right through him. 'Oh no.' She thought. 'I'm not dead am I? I can't be a ghost.' She stumbled back at the thought but caught herself from falling.   
  
The two boys were still talking. 'If I'm a ghost they can still see me.' She stood in between the two boys and waved her arms. Neither of them did a thing; they just kept on talking. 'Okay, so I'm not a ghost. Suddenly the other boy's face grew dark and he punched Justin in the face. He fell backwards in fear and pain and ran from the room.   
  
Hermione's eyes grew wide and she reached out to help him. Then she remembered she couldn't. The scene that played out in front of her grew fuzzy and over time she found herself back in the Transfiguration classroom, lying on the floor.   
  
"Ms. Granger, are you alright?" Professor McGonagall asked. She was hunched over her student's body, wand in hand.   
  
"W-What h-h-happened?" Hermione stuttered partly in fear, partly because her mouth didn't seem to be cooperating with her brain.   
  
"You were sitting in your desk and all of a sudden you fell from your chair and started to shake violently on the floor." The Professor informed her.   
  
"Oh." Hermione was still getting used to what she had seen. She glanced over to the Hufflepuff side of the room and both Justin and the other boy appeared to be fine. "I'm fine." She said quietly and took her seat again.   
  
"I think you should go to the nurse, dear." McGonagall said still checking to make sure everything was okay.   
  
"No really. That's not necessary. I'm fine." Hermione got out her supplies for class and nothing else went wrong the rest of the day.   
  
At dinner, however, Ron and Harry positively grilled her about what had happened. She explained every detail to them and they sat in shock.   
  
"But you're terrible at Divinitation. You couldn't have had a vision." Ron murmured.   
  
"I don't think it was a vision. I think I just went temporarily insane, that's all." Hermione said. Of course she hadn't really gone insane but she couldn't have had a vision. She didn't have the gift.   
  
Harry and Ron continued to ask her questions until she finally got mad and told them she was going to bed. She stormed out of the Great Hall and left the two of them sitting in shock.   
  
"So what do you think is wrong with her?" Harry asked his friend.   
  
"I don't know Harry. I just don't know." Ron said softly. Neither of them spoke another word the rest of the night to each other.   
  
The next day in Herbology Justin came in with a black eye and the threesome just looked at each other in awe.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
That's chapter five. Hope you liked it. I finally got one of the key points of the plot worked in so that's a good thing. And she didn't have a vision exactly. She did see the future but it's not a vision. She has a gift but it's not the same kind you use in Divinitation, if that makes any sense. Just had to clear that up.   
  
REVIEW! 


	6. Chapter Six

Disclaimer - The only thing I own that has anything to do with Harry Potter are my set of books. Which are very worn out I might add from over reading.   
  
Okay I'm going to start this chapter a little before the last one ended; hope that makes since.   
  
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Hermione met up with Harry and Ron in the Entrance Hall before going to greenhouse number six for Herbology. None of them talked as they trekked their way across Hogwarts' vast green lawns. Hermione did notice that the two boys kept glancing sideways at her as if to make sure she wouldn't just drop dead on the spot. They took their spots at the Gryffindor table once inside the greenhouse.   
  
They had always had Herbology with the Hufflepuffs; ever since their first year. The Hufflepuff table was always on the left side of the room and everyone always had the same spot every year. It wasn't assigned that way, they just got used to it.   
  
Hermione glanced at the empty place where Justin normally stood. She looked around at his house members and noticed that the boy from her vision was doing the same. Her jaw trembled slightly and she shook her head. Nothing would happen; everything was fine.   
  
When Justin entered the room he kept his head low and didn't look at anyone. He stood in his spot and was silent. Professor Sprout came into the room and for the first time Justin looked up. He had a large bruise on one of his cheeks and the other side of his face sported a black eye.   
  
Hermione gasped and stumbled backwards; eyes wide with shock. Ron caught her when she almost fell. Both boys just looked from Justin to Hermione and back again; not believing what they were seeing. It couldn't be possible; could it? Apparently it could. The Professor sent them a warning glance and Ron guided her back to her place.   
  
Professor Sprout gave a welcoming speech as all of their other teachers had done and then went into talking about a large plant sitting on the table in front her. She told them it was called the Ly Plant and was used to cure sores that appeared on the skin. They needed to milk the plants and then give the serum to her.   
  
Ron and Hermione were partners like they were every year. He didn't start work right away and just looked at her for a long time.   
  
"Okay Ron I can't work with you staring at me like that so just say what you're going to say and be done with it." She said and threw down her milking tool. They clattered to the floor but neither of them moved to pick them up. Ron leaned in closer so that no one would listen in on their conversation.   
  
"Don't' you see it Hermione? You saw if and it happened. You saw the future." He whispered and glanced around to make sure to one was listening.   
  
"Thank you for pointing that out Ron, I would have never noticed." She said and rolled her eyes. "Now, was that all because I really want to get this done?" She bent down and picked up the tool she had dropped earlier. Ron stopped her.   
  
"How can this not be a bigger deal to you?" He asked, his eyes full of concern and fear.   
  
"It is a big deal. But I don't have time to think about it right now so let's get to work." She emphasized the last three words and then returned to their plant. Ron just shook his head and joined her. Harry and he would be talking to her about this later, you could be sure of that.   
  
Ron and Harry tried to get her to talk about it all day but it was of new use. She wasn't going to talk until she was good and ready, and that could take a while. She needed time to think about everything. Nothing this big had ever happened to her and certainly not this many things at once.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
After dinner was over and everyone was hanging out in the Commonroom together, Hermione snuck outside and onto the Quidditch Pitch. As much as she wished everyone would stop obsessing over the sport, she must admit that the field was very peaceful. It was where she always came to think.   
  
She lay down in the center of the pitch and gazed up at the stars. It was very peaceful. She heard a rustling of clothing behind her and realized she wasn't alone. Quickly, she sat up and looked around. Standing above her, looking down, was Draco Malfoy.   
  
"Bug off, Malfoy. I'm not in the mood," She said and stood off, brushing off her robes.   
  
"Whatever, Mudblood. I'm not the one laying in the middle of the field like an idiot." She cringed at the name like she always did; only this time she knew it was false.   
  
"Don't call me that." She sneered. He almost laughed at the request.   
  
"What's wrong? Think it's too good for you? I can find some much worse names for you if you like." He put on his signature smirk and waited for her side of the argument.   
  
But it never came. She just slapped him and walked out of the arena. He stood looking after her, totally and completely stunned. By the time he regained his composure to tell her off she was out of hearing range. He just kicked the ground and left the pitch as well.   
  
The Commonroom only had a few people occupying it when Hermione arrived back from her escapade outside. She waved goodnight to Harry and Ron from across the room and trudged up the stairs to her dorm room. For once Parvati and Lavender were asleep and not chattering when she arrived. She prepared for bed in silence and fell into a dreamless sleep.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
The next morning Hermione awoke at half past ten. She frantically threw on her school uniform and raced down the stairs. Halfway down the steps she realized it was Saturday and there were no classes. She mentally slapped herself for being so stupid and walked back to her room to make herself look a bit more presentable since she had the time.   
  
When she was finished she slowly made her way back to the Commonroom and found her friends playing chess in a corner of the room. She pulled a chair up to their table and sat.   
  
"So who's winning?" She asked quietly as one of Ron's knights smashed Harry's queen into oblivion.   
  
"So you're talking to us now are you?" Ron replied simply, never taking his eyes off the board.   
  
"If you don't want me to, I'll just leave." She said angrily and stood up.   
  
"Hermione, sit down." Harry said and caught her arm. She sat back down, but didn't say anything else. "And to answer you're earlier question, Ron's winning; as usual."   
  
In five more minutes, Harry's king had been taken and the game was over. The threesome decided to go visit Hagrid. They hadn't seen him since Tuesday, when their class had been.   
  
He welcomed them in with open arms, and they politely declined the cookies he offered them. Fang immediately jumped up and put his large head in Ron's lap once he had taken a seat. "Every single time." He muttered and patted the dog's head carefully.   
  
"So ho've you three been doin'." Hagrid asked cheerfully, munching away on a cookie with a mug of ale in hand.   
  
"Okay."   
  
"Fine."   
  
"Alright." Came the mumbled replies. Hagrid just smiled and finished off his cookie. He looked from face to face waiting for one of them to say something. The smile fell from his face as he realized that something must be wrong for them to be this quiet.   
  
"Alrit you three, wha's goin' on 'ere?" He asked and put down his mug. Both Harry and Ron looked sideways at Hermione wondering if she would tell him or if they would have to.   
  
"I'm adopted, Hagrid." She said quietly. Hagrid didn't look a bit surprised.   
  
"Yes, I know all 'bout that." He said and looked at her. "Wen' to school with yer mum an' dad I did. Nice people."   
  
"Then why didn't you ever TELL me? Why does everyone feel they have to keep this as a big secret from me? Do you think I don't have a right to know? Did you think I wouldn't be able to handle it? Well guess what, I'm handling it just fine, but it would have been a lot easier if I had found out sooner. I could have avoided so much teasing and ridiculing. Now I just don't know what to do Hagrid!" She broke down and sobs racked her small frame.   
  
Hagrid patted her on the back gently and tried to get her to stop. "It's alrit Hermione. You're a smart girl you are. You'll get through this jus' fine." He said quietly, and she finally stopped weeping.   
  
"You really think so, Hagrid?" She looked at him through tear-filled eyes.   
  
"Of course I do." He smiled at her and her face lit up. She threw her arms around the large man and hugged him tightly.   
  
"Thanks, Hagrid. I really needed to hear that." She released him, but for once the smile didn't fade from her face. "I'll see you next Tuesday in class."   
  
She left through the front door and a very confused Harry and Ron said their good-byes and followed her. She walked ahead of them the entire way back to Hogwarts, but the smile never left her. While she still had a lot of thinking to do, she now had someone who had faith in her other than herself.   
  
She sat alone on her bed contemplating what to do when the room started to fade away once more. "Oh no, not again." She whispered before darkness took her entirely.   
  
She found herself on the Quidditch Pitch, standing below the players. Ravenclaw and Slytherin were playing. "Must be the first game of the season." She thought and made her way to the stands where she would be able to get a better view. She glanced across the field and saw herself cheering with the rest of the Gryffindors. "This is really weird."   
  
The players zoomed across the field. She saw Cho and Draco above the rest of the players looking around for the snitch. Cho must have spotted it because she took off like a rocket towards the ground. Draco quickly followed her and they were soon neck in neck heading for the field.   
  
They exchanged a glance of spite before turning their attention back to the little golden ball fluttering near the earth. Cho pulled up several inches from the ground but Draco kept going. He clutched the snitch in his hand and crashed to the ground. Slytherin had won. Slowly, the scene before her faded before her eyes and she was once again in her dorm room.   
  
Lavender and Parvati were staring at her from the doorway.   
  
"Don't worry, I'm fine." She told them on her way out to find Harry and Ron. They were once again playing chess in a corner of the room.   
  
"I had another vision." She whispered to them, standing over their table. They both stopped and looked up.   
  
"About what?" Ron said quietly, looking a bit scared.   
  
"Quidditch. Of all things I had a vision about Quidditch." She said, sounding a bit disappointed. If she had to have these visions she at least wanted them to be about something that interested her a little.   
  
"Who was playing?" Harry said frantically. If it was a Gryffindor game he wanted to know if he won.   
  
"Ravenclaw and Slytherin. I think it was the first game of the season." She said and sat down, resting her head on her hands.   
  
"Who won?" They both said quickly.   
  
"Slytherin." She mumbled. Ron let out a string of words that made Hermione slap his arm and Harry banged his head on the table. "Yeah, I was disappointed too. Not much we can do about it though."   
  
"Well, we could always-" Hermione cut Harry off with a deathly glare.   
  
"We can't change the future, Harry. You know that. This is what is destined to happen." She warned them both. Harry grumbled but didn't disagree; he knew she was right. It was almost time for dinner so the threesome made their way to the Great Hall chatting nonchalantly about various things, but not really paying attention.   
  
They ate dinner in silence, only speaking when people asked them a question. They still had a while until Hermione's latest vision occurred, the first Quidditch game wouldn't be for a month. Hermione was the first to leave the table. She hugged her friends good-bye and made her way up to her dorm room.   
  
Once inside, she sat on the stone seat near the window and looked out at the grounds. Several birds flew against the black night sky towards the forest. She sat there for a few more minutes just taking it all in. Slowly, her thoughts drifted from the scenery to her life, as they normally did.   
  
"This is definitely going to take some getting used to." She thought and leaned up against the wall. "I know I'll be fine, eventually, but right now I'm a mess. I don't know what to do anymore. Nothing makes sense. I could have coped with it if it was just the news of my adoption, but it's not. Now I have to deal with the fact that I also get glimpses of the future. Why is all of this happening to me?"   
  
She once again gazed longingly at the birds flying freely in the sky, wishing she could be more like them; without a care in the world. Slowly she forced herself to get ready for bed and go to sleep; dreaming of flying through the wide-open sky.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
Okay I'll admit it, that was not my best chapter ever. But it was also not my worst so I suppose that's a good think now isn't it? Anyway -   
  
Please review; I love them and sometimes they're all that keep me going. Knowing that at least someone appreciates what I'm doing is always a good thing.   
  
REVIEW! 


	7. Chapter Seven

isclaimer - I only own the plot, and that isn't saying much.   
  
I would like to begin by thanking everyone who reviewed.   
  
It has been brought to my attention that my math was off as well. Hagrid could not have gone to school with Snape and Hermione's father. He had already been expelled by then. Sorry for my mistake. Forgive me!   
  
And one reviewer said something about the Gryffindors always having Herbology with the Slytherins. In one book, I think it was Chamber of Secrets; Gryffindor does have Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. I promise. And I'm pretty sure they keep the same houses in classes all the time. They did have Herbology with the Slytherins in the Chamber of Secrets movie. But that movie could hardly be classified as accurate on much. Don't get me wrong, I loved the film, they just took a lot of freedoms with it.   
  
Also - Narisunell, I didn't force you to read my story so if you don't like it you don't have to. I explained why Harry wasn't getting special treatment from Mrs. Weasley if you paid enough attention to catch it. Also, Harry is supporting Hermione. He and Ron just don't want to see her get hurt. And lastly, I believe I am the author of this story and I will put Hermione and Draco together when and how I want to so DO NOT under any circumstances tell me how to write it. Okay, now that's out of my system.   
  
Thank you for listening to me rant. Read on!   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
It was Tuesday again, time for Potions. Hermione unhappily took her seat next to Draco who had already arrived. Once again he didn't look at her as she sat down and neither of them breathed a word. Silently the two got out their quills and parchment to prepare for class.   
  
Hermione studied her piece of yellowed paper for several minutes before picking up one of her quills and writing six words, "Why were you at the Pitch?" Slowly, she pushed the paper over to Draco's side of the table, but never once looked at him; she kept her eyes fixed straight ahead.   
  
Draco regarded the parchment before he took it into his hands and read her writing. He took out his own quill and wrote his answer. He folded the paper in half and placed it in one of her hands.   
  
Hermione smoothed the note out flat onto the table and read what he had written. "None of your business, Mudblood. Keep your nose where it belongs." She quickly turned and glared at him but it was to no avail, he took no notice of her.   
  
It was lucky that at that moment Snape billowed into the classroom or Hermione might have hexed him. She hurriedly scribbled her response back and shoved it to him underneath the table.   
  
Not wanting to be caught passing notes by Snape, Draco had to wait several minutes to read it until the Professor was busy else ware in the room. "I told you, DON'T call me that." He chuckled at this. 'What's wrong with calling her what she is?' He thought. 'A filthy, good-for-nothing, Muggle- born witch.' He wrote back in his tiny scrawl, "And why not?"   
  
Hermione read over this and just sighed. She softly whispered her answer, "Just forget it, you of all people wouldn't understand. Let's just start working." Draco nodded and began to gather their supplies. This was going to be an awfully strange partnership.   
  
Draco and Hermione once again finished their Potion first and were allowed quiet free time. Several minutes later, Hermione felt something brush against her hand. She looked away from her book to see what it was and found another note. 'He doesn't let things go very well.' She thought and unfolded the piece of parchment. "What do you mean I wouldn't understand?" So she wrote back the obvious response, "I mean you wouldn't understand."   
  
He read this and sneered sideways at her. "Witty, very witty." He muttered under his breath, just loud enough so she could hear him.   
  
"Wasn't it?" She whispered back. Snape passed by their table and they were both forced to look occupied for a moment.   
  
"Just tell me, Granger." He said sounding a bit annoyed.   
  
"Granger?" She let out a quiet laugh. "What happened to, Mudblood?"   
  
"Well, you did tell me not to call you that. But if you like I can easily start again." He was now half-facing her, his silver eyes boring into her brown ones.   
  
"And when did you start listening to me?" She retorted almost to herself. He sighed and rolled his eyes before he answered.   
  
"If you tell me I'll tell you why I was on the Pitch that night." He said. She just looked at the note and shook her head. Knowing why he was there couldn't possibly be as important as why he shouldn't call her a Mudblood. And she wasn't sure if she was ready for him to know that yet. Not even all the people in her house knew.   
  
Draco was starting to get irritated. He was used to getting what he wanted when he wanted it. But now this Muggle-born witch was denying him the one thing he was most curious about. She had told him time and time again on different occasions not to call her that. She had never done that in past years. What was so different, what had changed?   
  
Draco glanced back over at the brunette witch who was sitting, silently reading her book. He closely studied her face for any signs that anything had changed, but the only thing he noticed was that she had dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep.   
  
Hermione felt the silver eyes on her. She slowly turned her head and stared back. Draco looked away immediately and went back to scribbling away on his parchment. Neither of them spoke another word.   
  
Snape looked up from his desk and dismissed them from class when it was time. Hermione gathered her courage and approached the Professor.   
  
"Professor Snape?" She said tentatively.   
  
"What is it, girl?" He answered without looking up from his paperwork.   
  
"I was wondering if you could tell me anything about my father." She said quietly. Still he didn't look up.   
  
"I don't know you're father, Miss Granger." His hand had not stopped moving across the paper since their little chat had begun.   
  
"Not my Muggle father Professor, my real father. Professor Dumbledore said you were friends in school." Her eyes peered into the black haired mans' head. He finally looked up.   
  
"Of course, he did. I haven't talked to your real father in over twenty years. I meant what I said; I don't know your father. Not anymore." And with that the Professor went back to work.   
  
Hermione lowered her eyes to the stone floor and turned to leave. When she was almost to the door a pair of black dragon skin boots came into view. Her eyes traveled up their owner's body and rested on the face of Draco Malfoy. "Oh no." She mouthed. He leaned against the doorway and smirked.   
  
"So, that's why you don't want to be called Mudblood." He said and walked away.   
  
"This is not good." She thought. "Not good at all."   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
"Malfoy knows?" Harry nearly yelled when Hermione told Ron and him about her encounter with the blonde Slytherin.   
  
"Yes." She answered quietly. "He knows. He heard me talk to Snape, who, by the way, didn't tell me a damn thing."   
  
"Well, that's bad." Ron added to the conversation.   
  
"Oh, really? You think so?" Hermione replied sarcastically. "Hardly anyone knows about my adoption except you and Harry and now he knows. This is horrible. Bad is an understatement. Now he'll tell everyone and I don't want everyone to know yet!" Hermione slumped back into her crimson armchair and sighed.   
  
"You've been through worse. Look at it this way; everyone would have found out sooner or later after we go to Hogsmeade since you're set on seeing them when we go. It's just happening sooner rather than later." Harry said to try and comfort her.   
  
"Not helping." Hermione grumbled. She truly didn't want everyone to know. She wasn't ready. While she was the smartest witch in their year she was still quite a private person. Harry and Ron both knew this. It took a long time before she was willing to trust them with everything.   
  
"Why don't you try and sleep on it. Everything seems worse when you're tired." Ron said. "Bloody hell, I sound like Mum." He smacked himself in the head and relaxed further into the couch.   
  
"Good idea." She said quietly and stood. "I'll see you in the morning." She gave each of them a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "G'night."   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
The next day Gryffindor had History of Magic with the Slytherins. When Draco entered the dimly lit room Hermione's eyes shot open and she couldn't help but look at him. He gave her a smirk in return, but did nothing else.   
  
For an hour and a half the class listened to Professor Binns drone on in his monotone voice about different Goblins. The minute class was over, Hermione bolted out the door to catch up with Draco. He paid no attention to her and barely acknowledged her presence.   
  
"You're not going to tell anyone are you? About my parents?" She whispered, hurriedly.   
  
"We shall see Granger, we shall see." He laughed. His laugh made her cringe. It was halfway between being completely evil and being amused.   
  
His words still rung in her head long after he was gone, and she stood standing in the hall. "We shall see."   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
Okay so not the best of chapters. I realized I hadn't posted in a while so I figured I had better write before someone got mad. So I just wrote. The only part I'm proud of is Hermione's conversation with Snape. I like it. I don't care if you did. Anyway thanks for reading and now -   
  
REVIEW! 


	8. Chapter Eight

Disclaimer - I own nothing, nada, nein, zip, zilch, zero. Get the picture?   
  
First off I really wish people would stop telling me to get Draco and Hermione together soon. I am sick and tired of it okay? It won't happen for a while so stop hounding me about it!   
  
I am going to try and answer all the questions I got now. Bear with me. Sometimes even I don't know what's going to happen next!   
  
Hermione will get to see her parents in about two or three chapters. I promise. I'm trying to get there. It's all the space fillers that are slowing me down.   
  
And that was all the questions I got. Actually I got a lot but there were all the same. When are Draco and Hermione going to get together? *Glares at people who sent in this question*   
  
Feel free to ask and/or suggest anything. I won't get mad unless it's just stupid and you're wasting my time.   
  
Anyway - Here we go. (Into the wild blue yonder! Flying high, into the sky! - I'll stop now)   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
'Malfoy is planning something.' Hermione thought as she lay in her four- poster bed that night. The crimson and gold satin surrounded her with a familiar sense of comfort. She had done a lot of thinking and reasoning in this bed.   
  
Parvati snorted and rolled over in her sleep. It was a well-known fact to the Gryffindor sixth year girls that Parvati snored, but they were all sworn to secrecy for she wanted no one to know. At Christmas the girls normally got nicer presents from her than she gave to anyone else in exchange for keeping silent.   
  
Hermione went back to her thoughts after whacking Parvati with her pillow to shut her up. 'Definitely planning something. Now I just have to decide whether to be scared or not. What am I thinking about? This is Malfoy! Of course I should be scared.' She rolled over onto her back and sighed. 'What am I going to do?'   
  
The sound of snoring and crickets chirping slowly lulled her to sleep that night. She never figured out exactly what she was going to do. She just knew she was going to have to be very, very careful until either Malfoy forgot about it or did something horrible. The latter of the two would most likely happen first. While he didn't show it most of the time he was very bright and had an exquisite memory.   
  
He was planning something of course. He was a Slytherin after all. He got into the house for being mischievous and cunning. He just didn't happen to know what he was going to do yet.   
  
Draco sat in his bed contemplating all the things he could do to Hermione. He drummed with his fingers on the frame of his bed and thought. 'What can I do? This really shouldn't be very hard. I mean come on! It's Mudblo- Granger.' He corrected himself. 'Think Draco, think. What is the way that you could humiliate her the most?'   
  
For once in his life Draco couldn't think of anything. 'Think, think, think.' He told himself and massaged his temples. 'Good Lord this should not be this hard! You've embarrassed her a million times. Just THINK, damn you.'   
  
So he thought, and thought, and thought, and thought. But he didn't come up with a single thing. This couldn't be just any prank he pulled on her; it had to be the most sinister thing he had ever done to Potter and his fan club, something everyone would remember even years after it had happened.   
  
Then he realized something. He didn't know who her parents were. That would be a vital piece of information he needed to know if he were to do anything. He groaned and fell down onto his mattress in defeat. He had to find that out. But how?   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
Hermione awoke the next morning to find Harry and Ron talking quietly in the two armchairs by the door of the room.   
  
"What are you doing in here? You're not allowed in here! It's the girl's room." She hissed out the last part and covered her satin nightgown with her bedcovers.   
  
"Relax 'Mione. It's not like we've never been in here or seen you in your pajamas before." Ron said and rolled his eyes. Harry was just sitting trying not to laugh at the shocked look on Hermione's face and the smug look on Ron's.   
  
Hermione shot daggers at them with her eyes and made them leave so she could change.   
  
"Okay fine." Harry grumbled. "But after you're done we have to talk."   
  
"Okay, okay. Just go! You don't want to see me in this anymore than I do, trust me." Harry once again began laughing but slung an arm around Ron's shoulders and dragged his best friend out the door.   
  
She made sure she took an extra long time to get ready to keep them waiting. It served them right. They were waiting on the couch in the Commonroom for her looking rather unhappy when she finally did come out. She sat down across from them in a chair smiling triumphantly.   
  
"You wanted to talk?" She said once they looked a bit less morbid.   
  
"Yeah." Ron said and stopped slouching. His full attention was now on her. "But would you mind if we went somewhere a little more private? There's a lot of people in the Commonroom today."   
  
She studied the two boys for a moment and then nodded. The three were silent until Harry suddenly took a sharp turn and dragged the other two into the library with him. They sat down at a table and stared at each other.   
  
"I'll say it again," she whispered, "you wanted to talk?"   
  
"Hermione," Harry started but was soon interrupted by Ron.   
  
"We're worried about you." The redhead said. Hermione was taken aback. What did they have to be worried about? Everything was finally coming together. She only had two weeks more to wait until she saw if her second vision came true and a month until the sixth years visited Hogsmeade.   
  
"Why?" She asked tentatively. She found her two friends refused to meet her eyes.   
  
"Well, Hermione, It's just," Harry stalled, not knowing exactly what to say.   
  
"Just what?" She looked from one to the other. "Guys just tell me. You know I can take whatever you dish out."   
  
"Youhaven'tbeenyourselflately." Ron muttered.   
  
"Come again? Stop slouching." She instructed. Ron sat up strait and looked her in the eyes.   
  
"You haven't been yourself lately." He said quietly but directly.   
  
"I know." She said just below a whisper. She wondered if they had ever heard her. By the looks on their faces she knew they had. "You're right Ron. I haven't been myself lately. I will probably never be myself again. I'm a different person now. It would be very hard to go back to the way I was before all of this happened. It's changed me."   
  
"I know." It was now Harry's turn to admit something. "It's understandable. You've had so much to deal with lately Hermione. Why won't you let us help with anything?"   
  
"You can't help me Harry, not this time." She told him. "This isn't one of our little adventures where we have to work together to achieve our goal. This is something I have to do myself."   
  
Harry gazed down at his calloused hands. He missed his friend, the way she used to be. He wanted her back the way she was.   
  
"I'm sorry." She whispered. Tears had begun to gather in the corner of her eyes. She brushed them away with the sleeve of her uniform. He looked up at her and smiled.   
  
"Don't be. It's not really your fault." Hermione smiled this time. She then looked over at Ron who had been remarkably quiet.   
  
"It'll be okay." He said, trying to reassure himself of that fact. "So, what can you tell us about these mystery parents of yours?" Hermione brightened that her friends were finally taking interest.   
  
"I really don't know much. Snape wouldn't tell me a thing and Dumbledore was being very mysterious as usual. I do know that they own and run the bookstore in Hogsmeade. Let's see, their names are Josef and Elizabeth Kelgara. My father was a Slytherin, but hopefully not one of the evil ones like Malfoy. My mum was in Ravenclaw. They were both very smart, Dumbledore said it must run in the family." Hermione took pride in the last statement. "And that's pretty much all I know. I really want to see them when we go to Hogsmeade though. I feel like I need too. I have to see what they're like, why they left me."   
  
Harry and Ron were trying their hardest to be supportive. They both smiled at her and told her that they hoped everything worked out for her. Then they had to leave for afternoon Quidditch practice.   
  
"Bye 'Mione." They both said and gave her a hug.   
  
"Bye guys. See you later." Hermione returned to her dorm room to do some studying until they came back.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
From behind a bookcase near the threesome, Draco Malfoy froze. 'Kelgara, where have I heard that name before?' He thought to himself. 'God, it sounds do familiar. Maybe Father knows something.' He took off towards the owlery to send his Eagle Owl, Amarth, to his Father. He neatly wrote out a letter to Lucius and tied it onto Amarth's leg. The owl soared out of the window and towards Malfoy Manor. He knew he would get a reply soon. His father wasn't one to put anything off for very long.   
  
Sure enough, two hours later Amarth was back with the answer. He gave the black owl a few nuts and shooed it away. His eyes scanned over the yellowed parchment.   
  
"My son -   
  
You were right to think the name sounded familiar. It has been mentioned countless times in our household. As you know you are to be Voldemort's heir when you come of age.-"   
  
Draco was filled with anger at this. Of course he knew, but that didn't mean he wanted it.   
  
"-Before you were born Our Lord had great respect for Josef Kelgara. He was newly wed and Voldemort wanted them to produce an heir for his empire once he was too feeble to run it. Of course Kelgara accepted. However, Our Lord wanted a male heir and when their child was born it was female. Voldemort was infuriated. Afraid of what might come the Kelgaras fled from him. Out of shame they gave up the child to a Muggle orphanage.   
  
That is all I know on this topic my son. It gladdens me to know you are finally taking an interest in the history of our people.   
  
Father"   
  
Draco's face broke into a grin. 'This is too good to be true.' He thought. "Granger will absolutely die of embarrassment when I let this out.' He let out a cold laugh. 'When to do it though? It has to be somewhere with lots of people but no teachers. Think Draco, think. I've got it. We have Care of Magical Creatures with that Gryffindor scum on Monday. I'll let it go then.'   
  
He left the library silently to go plan his attack. Everything had to be perfect for this to work. For several hours he locked himself in his dorm room and wrote out exactly what he was going to do. When he was finally done he laughed again. It would be flawless.   
  
He unlocked the door to let his fellow Slytherin males in and went to sleep. The event would take place in two days.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
Well there was chapter eight I think. Wow I'm already at eight? Time really does fly sometimes.   
  
I would like to add another thanks to casper who helps me think of the plots that occur within the plot. She's great. Thanks a lot.   
  
And most importantly, the more reviews I get the more motivated I am to write. Remember that while you -   
  
REVIEW! 


	9. Chapter Nine

Disclaimer - Don't have any creative inspiration for this. Just look at the last page if you truly care.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
Sunday passed by dreadfully slowly for Draco. He couldn't wait until Monday afternoon when he could finally put Granger in her place for good. He smirked at the thought. There was nothing he loved better than lifting himself up by putting others down.   
  
But, finally, Monday afternoon did come. He was the first one to class. Hagrid looked at him oddly when he entered smiling, but he paid no heed to the gamekeeper. Nothing was going to spoil his mood today. He anxiously awaited the arrival of the brunette witch.   
  
She arrived with Potter and the Weasel about fifteen minutes later. He was disappointed. He had wanted her to get there sooner so he would have more time to enjoy this. Now he had to pack all of his torture into a twenty- minute segment. Nevertheless, the moment she arrived he strolled up to where she and her friends were standing. She felt his presence and turned to face him.   
  
"What do you want Malfoy?" She said coldly. The fact that she was already annoyed was making this all the better for him. He stroked his chin and looked thoughtful for a moment.   
  
"What did you say your Mum and Dad's last name was Granger?" He said slowly, as if trying to recall something from long ago.   
  
"I didn't Malfoy. Leave me alone." She turned back to talking to Lavender and Ron.   
  
"Kelgara." He said finally. "That was it." She glared at him once again.   
  
"How did you know that?" She said through clenched teeth. He smirked before going on with the rest of his plan.   
  
"You know, that name sounds so familiar to me. Where have I heard it before?" He once again returned to his thoughtful stance.   
  
"The only people you've ever cared about knowing are Death eaters, Malfoy. Just bugger off." She once again attempted to return to her conversation.   
  
"Death eaters! That's it." He almost smiled as her eyes widened in surprise. "My father told me about them not too long ago. They were the ones that were supposed to produce an heir weren't they? Whatever happened to them?"   
  
He looked expectantly at her for the answer but none came.   
  
"Now, I remember. They had a girl instead. Wait," he paused for effect and appeared to go over the situation in his mind. "That would be, you, wouldn't it?"   
  
His cold gray eyes bore into hers. Her face burned and she felt a flush rise to her cheeks.   
  
"You're wrong." She spit out softly. She didn't want to believe him. He couldn't be right. It wasn't possible.   
  
"Oh, I am, am I? I'd like to see you prove it." His eyes narrowed and the ever-present smirk once again was plastered on his face.   
  
"You're wrong." Was all she could say. Hot tears gathered in the corners of her eyes, but she would not let him see her cry. She never let him see how much his insults hurt her.   
  
"And you're in a Muggle family to hide your parents shame, you filthy little Mudblood." He hissed out. Ron and Harry couldn't take their friend being abused anymore. At the same time they both ambushed Malfoy, hitting any part of them they could reach.   
  
He was caught by surprise and found the one flaw in his plan. He hadn't anticipated other people. His pale body would be dotted with dark blue and black bruises the next day; not a very good combination.   
  
"Wha' do ya thin' yer doin' there 'arry? Ron? You two shoul' know better! 'onestly." Hagrid yelled as he pulled the two Gryffindors off Draco. He lay there battered and in serious pain. The gamekeeper pulled him up and dragged him off to the nurse. He had two or three broken ribs.   
  
"What did you do to this boy, Hagrid?" Madam Pomfrey said as she bustled around the clinic pulling bandages and different potions off the walls.   
  
"It was Potter and Weasley." He answered her. "He was pokin' fun o' 'ermione Granger."   
  
She tsked at the boy lying on the bed holding his chest. "When will he ever learn?"   
  
She shooed Hagrid out to get on with his class and returned to her patient. With a few quick waves of her wand she healed his ribs and gave him a potion for the pain. He didn't say thank you, Malfoy's never thank inferiors, and lay back onto the hospital mattress. The plan had gone perfectly except for the unexpected battle; he was quite pleased.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
Hermione couldn't concentrate the rest of the day. She was debating whether or not to believe what Draco had said. Deep down she knew he was probably right; he wouldn't make up something like this knowing it could backfire, but she didn't want to believe it.   
  
She had entered into denial, and it could only get worse from here. Harry and Ron tried to comfort her but she would have it, telling them she wanted to be alone.   
  
After classes were done she walked out to the Quidditch Pitch and once again lay in the center looking up at the cloudy sky. It would probably rain tonight. The clouds swirled together and formed spirals of gray and white. The sound of thunder in the distance was strangely soothing to her.   
  
"Why is all of this happening to me?" She wondered for the hundredth time that year. Small droplets fell onto her face and cooled the skin. She smiled and stood. Slowly she raised her arms and let the falling rain soak her robes while she danced, happy for the first time that day.   
  
When she arrived, she was thoroughly drenched to the bone and shivering from the contact of her wet body and the cold air inside the school. Parvati gasped when she came through the portrait hole and immediately dragged her up the stairs and pushed her into a hot shower.   
  
"What were you thinking Hermione? Standing out in the cold rain like that. You'll catch pneumonia." She lectured as Hermione let the warm water flood over her.   
  
She climbed out and was immediately wrapped in a plush white towel. Parvati and Lavender dried her hair and gave her a pair of warm pajamas to sleep in before sending her to bed.   
  
They went down stairs and joined Harry and Ron who were playing an unenthusiastic game of Exploding Snap.   
  
"We're worried about Hermione." Lavender said. Ron nodded.   
  
"We are too." He said and threw another card onto the pile.   
  
"Do you think it's true? What Malfoy said about her parents?" Parvati said in a hushed voice as the pile of cards blew up.   
  
"Probably not," Answered Harry. "Everything that snake does is a load of rubbish. He needs to learn to keep his forked tongue behind his teeth."   
  
The other three silently agreed and went on with their card game. Ron was victorious once again, he had always been good at games, but no one took notice. They said their solemn goodnights and went to their dorms to sleep.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
Yes, I know it was a short chapter. I'm sorry! Really, I am. Anyway at least it wasn't horrible right? I promise the next one will be longer. Promise.  
  
  
  
And yes, before you blame me for plagiarism, the line about his forked tongue was from Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. I just thought it fit him really well.  
  
  
  
Loved something? Hated something? Tell me while you -   
  
REVIEW! 


	10. Chapter Ten

Disclaimer - I know none of the characters are mine. Do you have to keep rubbing it in by making me write this comment? It hurts my feelings you know.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
Hermione awoke to Lavender, Parvati, Ron, and Harry all hovering over her bed, their heads in a circle. She screamed.   
  
"What are you all doing in here? Trying to scare the living daylights out of me? I could have hexed you!" She yelled at them and they all threw themselves backwards about ten feet.   
  
"Hermione you don't have your wand with you." Ron pointed out; finally glad he could prove her wrong for once.   
  
"I could have gotten it easily. It's right there." She retorted and pointed to where the stick of wood lay on her bedside table. "Why are you all in here?" She repeated.   
  
"You were screaming. In your sleep." Lavender said quietly from her place in the doorway. She strode towards her roommate and sat at the foot of her bed. "Are you sure you're alright?" Hermione looked flummoxed. She glanced from face to face looking for answers.   
  
"Screaming about what?" She said slowly.   
  
"I don't know." Lavender said. "We couldn't understand you. You were speaking in some foreign language. It sounded a bit like French with some German thrown in but we couldn't decipher it."   
  
"I went to France and Germany over the summer." She muttered. She then looked up at the slender blonde perched on her bed next to her. "I don't speak either of the languages though."   
  
"This is really weird." Parvati said quietly and joined the other two girls on the bed. Harry and Ron began to feel quite uncomfortable in the girly bonding moment.   
  
"We, erm, have to go. Have, er," Harry stuttered.   
  
"Quidditch practice!" Ron shouted and finished his friend's sentence. "We have Quidditch practice. Bye!" They left the room a little more quickly than usual.   
  
"What were you dreaming about Hermione?" Lavender finally asked after a moment of awkward silence.   
  
"I don't really know. It was all so confusing, made no sense at all. I was standing on the Quidditch Pitch looking up at the sky and a big green bird type thing came barreling down and knocked me flat off my feet and flew away. So I just lay there on the ground and then I looked down and all these black things started to come towards me.   
  
They were reaching out with their hands when the bird came back and saved me. But one of them grabbed on right as I flew away and cut my arm. I tried to put pressure on it so it would stop bleeding but it wouldn't. My blood was pouring all over my robes and the bird. Then you woke me up."   
  
"You know, you might want to go to Professor Trelawney-" Hermione send her a deathly look.   
  
"I am NOT under any circumstances going to that old bat." Lavender's eyes widened at having her favorite professor called an old bat and she had to hold Parvati back from slapping their roommate upside the head. "Sorry bout that. Forgot you loved her so dearly." She stifled a laugh.   
  
"I was just trying to make a suggestion. But I guess if you don't want my help I'll just go. Come on Parvati." She grabbed the sleeve of her best friend's robe and dragged her from the room. Hermione kept quiet until the two girls had left before collapsing into a fit of laughter on her bed.   
  
"Oh please," she said between gasps for air. "Like she could ever help me."   
  
She smoothed the wrinkles in her skirt and made her way to the Great Hall to eat breakfast with her fellow Gryffindors. When she entered the room Malfoy caught her eye from the Slytherin table and smirked. Her blood boiled and she tried to kill him telepathically. It didn't work.   
  
She quickly turned her head to the other side of the room where Harry and Ron were sitting and talking animatedly about the Quidditch game coming up next week. They were so excited an innocent bystander would have thought they were playing.   
  
Of course the entire school, with the exception of Slytherin, would be rooting for Ravenclaw. Everyone kept giving the team reassuring smiles and pats on the back. All seven players were glowing. They Slytherin team, however, was huddled up in a little bunch at the end of their table going over ways to trick the other house and put them out of the game.   
  
"Hey guys." She said as she plopped down next to Ginny on the bench. They acknowledged her by waving but kept on with their conversation. Ginny was the only one who really cared she was there.   
  
"So," she said slowly, not knowing how to start off a discussion with the older girl. They had never really talked much. She was always just the only girl to talk to in the summer when Hermione came over to the Burrow. "What classes do you have today?"   
  
"Arithmacy and Defense Against the Dark Arts." Hermione answered simply and reached for a biscuit from the basket in the middle of the long table.   
  
"Oh. Do you like the new teacher?" Ginny had never been very good at making small talk, especially with people older than she was.   
  
"Yes. I like her a lot. Do you?" Hermione looked at the redhead for the first time since she sat down.   
  
"Well she's better than Beacon. I'll tell you that much. She's pretty good. At least she knows what she's talking about." The two girls laughed. Their professor last year had been completely oblivious to everything that he was teaching. They still wondered to this day why Dumbledore had hired him in the first place.   
  
"Well I had better go. Don't want to be late you know." Hermione said. The chatter had become a bit uncomfortable.   
  
"Right. See you later." Hermione took her bag and walked out of the room. The castle was empty and very quiet this early in the morning. Everyone was eating breakfast. She walked in peace up the three flights of moving stairs to the Arithmacy classroom.   
  
The professor greeted her as she entered and she took her seat in the front row. In her mind she went over the morning events. She was still curious how she was speaking German and French in her sleep. She hadn't been in either country long enough to pick up even a little bit of the language.   
  
She shook her head and started debating with herself over how it could be possible.   
  
"The shame of your family driven you insane Granger? Or is it just that no one else was willing to talk to you?" Malfoy drawled from behind her, his voice dripping with sarcasm.   
  
"Sod off Malfoy." She said venomously. 'Damn, I forgot he was in this class.' She thought.   
  
"I'd rather not." He took the seat next to her and smirked at her.   
  
"What do you want?" She asked and glowered at him.   
  
"What do I want? Only the pleasure of your misery." He sneered at her.   
  
"Do what you want Malfoy. Just remember, you were just the second choice." She looked down at her notes and smiled to herself. His pale face grew red and his eyes narrowed to tiny slits.   
  
"At least I was good enough for him." He shot back. She laughed and he looked surprised. Her body began to shake from the laughter. She couldn't stop laughing and she had stopped breathing. Draco looked around for the professor but she had left.   
  
She had now begun to turn red from lack of air but kept laughing, violently shaking now. Not knowing what else to do he slapped her across the face. After a few seconds she stopped laughing and took in deep breaths. A bright red handprint was now plastered on her right cheek.   
  
"What was that for?" She yelled and rubbed the tender skin where his hand had made contact.   
  
"You weren't breathing." He said simply.   
  
"So? That gives you no right to hit me." She retorted.   
  
"Fine." He spat out. "Next time I'll just let you die. You should learn to be more respectful of your superiors."   
  
He stormed out of the room, leaving a very surprised Hermione sitting alone in the empty room.   
  
'He saved my life?' She thought, not able to process the idea. 'Actually I would have just passed out from lack of air and been able to breath again but he still saved me from fainting. This year is getting too weird.'   
  
The rest of class came in over the next half hour in groups of three or four. Draco was the last one to enter. He took the last remaining seat in the room next to Hermione but both refused to say or look at each other the entire class. If they had one thing in common it was that they each had a very strong sense of dignity.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
It was finally time for the first Quidditch game of the season. The two teams had been training endlessly, whenever they had even fifteen minutes of spare time. Both felt that they were prepared to destroy their opponents.   
  
The entire school was waiting in the stands waiting for the match to begin. Madam Hooch stepped onto the field with the Quidditch chest in hand. Soon after the players soared onto the field.   
  
"Remember," Hooch said, her voice magnified to ten times its' normal volume, "you know the rules and I expect you to follow them." She looked at the Slytherins as she said this.   
  
Dean Thomas sat in his chair waiting anxiously for Madam Hooch to release the balls so he could begin his commentary of the game. She looked the players over once more, set the bludgers free, and threw up the quaffle.   
  
(A/N: I do not know the names of the players on either team, I'm also not great at describing sports so bare with me and please don't flame me about it.)   
  
"Hernam from Ravenclaw has caught the quaffle! Look at him fly. Oh-no! Here comes Selaw. They're going to-! Ouch. That had to hurt. Slytherin has the quaffle. They've made it past the last chaser! Let's hope Kefner can block it. Yes! He's been hit with the bludger! Ravenclaw back in possession."   
  
Thomas went on with his explanations while Draco slowly circled the field far above the players; his keen silver eyes scanning the field for the snitch.   
  
He watched on as Ravenclaw scored twenty points quickly. The entire stadium cheered. The Slytherin's only cheered because one of the Ravenclaw chasers seemed to have crashed into the goal post while scoring and hurt his arm.   
  
Cho Chang was keeping very close to the end of his broom. She wasn't stupid, she knew when she played Gryffindor or Slytherin if she had any chance of catching the snitch it was to follow Draco and Harry.   
  
He decided to play a trick on her. He stopped his broom quickly and looked around frantically. Not moving forward at all he turned his broom shaft ninety degrees downward and went into a strait dive towards the ground.   
  
As the wind rushed through his hair he saw a glint of gold to his left. In a freak accident he had actually gone the right way, and led her to the snitch as well. Being the expert flyer he was he gripped the broom tightly with his right hand and reached out with his left as far as he could. He was still a good five inches from it.   
  
Chang was gaining on him. He glanced back and saw that she was no longer on his tail but almost directly next to him. In one last desperate move he removed both hands from the broom's handle and threw himself in the direction of the snitch.   
  
The ground neared as he flailed around frantically for the golden ball. He finally grasped it in one of his pale hands right as the end of the broom made contact with the earth below. The force hurled him forward and slammed him headfirst into the sand underneath the hoops.   
  
He heard a tremendous cracking noise as his right arm and several ribs shattered. Before the world went black he glanced down at his hand. There, wriggling in his grasp was the snitch. Slytherin had won, and the world faded away to nothing as the pain overtook him.   
  
"Do you think we should move him?" Professor Snape asked once the teachers had reached the field. They had forded through a mob of angry students to reach the injured boy.   
  
"No," McGonagall answered sternly. "We should wait for Poppy. She'll know what to do."   
  
"Is his arm supposed to bend like that?" Snape said and motioned to his arm, which was bent behind his head at an odd angle.   
  
"Goodness what happened here?" Madam Pomfrey hurriedly said as she summoned a stretched and levitated him onto it. "Quidditch injury no doubt. I'll never know why they still allow them to play such a dangerous game." She began to talk to herself as she took Draco back to the Hospital Wing.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
"Hermione you didn't tell us he'd get that hurt." Ron said, his eyes wide in shock.   
  
"I didn't get to see all-" Ron cut her off and went right on ranting.   
  
"This is great! Oh! What if he's out of the game against Gryffindor? We'd be sure to win then! Harry can you imagine?" He turned to talk to Harry about Quidditch for the thousandth time that day.   
  
Hermione nervously bit her fingernails. If he ended up dying from blood loss or something she could have prevented it. 'Madam Pomphrey is great. She won't let him die.' She reassured herself.   
  
Nevertheless, Hermione was still a nervous wreck the entire day. She overheard Snape telling Dumbledore that Draco was recovering well in the hospital and he would be back to class in a few days so that lifted her spirits a bit. At least he didn't die. Plus he would never know that she could have prevented his injury.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
Draco's eyes flickered opened and took in the stark white surrounding him on all sides. It took him a while to realize where he was. When he tried to sit up, a blinding pain shot through his right side and he collapsed onto the bed once more.   
  
The nurse bustled about the room placing potions in their respective places. He groaned and rubbed him sore side. The nurse came at once and gave him a pain solution that would help numb him out.   
  
The liquid burned his throat and he nearly choked. The moment he was done he fell back asleep.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
Three days later he returned to class. No one gave him the evil eye for winning for they knew what lengths he went through to achieve the victory. His fellow house members congratulated him, but most people left him in peace. He liked that, being in solitude. It calmed him.   
  
Snape gave him a very, very small, almost miniscule smile when he entered the classroom. Draco was so surprised by this that he almost forgot to do anything. He gave the Professor a small smile of his own and took his seat.   
  
For once he was there before Hermione. She sat down a few minutes before class began but was utterly silent.   
  
"What did you do?" He asked her after she rummaged through her bag looking for nothing for a while.   
  
"What do you mean?" She said, never looking up.   
  
"Look Granger, I can tell when people are guilty. What did you do?" She visibly stiffened and slowly turned to meet his gaze. She couldn't tell him about her visions. Only Harry and Ron knew of those. So she lied.   
  
"I forgot to do my Charms essay." She admitted and tried to look ashamed. Draco just started laughing. He laughed until tears came to his eyes and he had to brace himself for support.   
  
"Hogwarts' star student didn't do her homework. Oh this is priceless." He wiped his eyes and snickered one last time before Snape began his lesson.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
See? I told you this one would be longer. I keep my promises. Hope you liked it. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. With lots of help of course.   
  
A big thanks to my beta readers:   
  
Weasley Pride - Author of The Serpent Prophecy. It's good. I swear, I don't read bad stories. Check it out sometime.   
  
And   
  
Casper - Author of Love Me. One of the best stories I have ever read. You need to take a look at it too.   
  
Also - Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. I love you all.   
  
REVIEW! 


	11. Chapter Eleven

Disclaimer - I have one hundred dollars to my name and you think I wrote Harry Potter? HA!   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
"And then in the sixth century Cobert the Crass led the goblins to revolt again the evil king Hennag. They overcame their leader and that is why the Goblins are now governed using a democracy." Professor Binns droned on about different goblin revolts and troll uprisings.   
  
Hermione slowly surveyed the room and saw that most of her classmates were silently sleeping with their heads down on the desks. Parvati snorted a little bit to the right of her.   
  
'If she doesn't want anyone to know she snores she should stop falling asleep in class.' She thought and jabbed her to make her stop. The girl nodded thanks to her and shifted into a different position.   
  
Hermione always tried to pay attention but all the goblins had begun sounding the same and it was starting to make her head throb. Professor Binns didn't help either. If he wanted his students to stay awake he could try to be at least a tad more exciting than wet chalk.   
  
The Slytherins across the room were busy throwing small objects through Binns to see if he noticed. He had his head buried in one of his many books and was reading in a monotonous voice, taking no notice of the quills and parchment being tossed through his lower half.   
  
Directly across the classroom from Hermione sat Draco. He had his arms crossed in front of him and was leaning back in his chair at a dangerous angle. His eyes were shut and he was slowly drifting off into his own personal dreamland. As Hermione watched him she came to a realization.   
  
She quickly scribbled a note down on a spare piece of parchment and wrapped it around one of her empty inkbottles. Making sure the Professor was still engrossed in his reading she pitched the bundle across the room.   
  
Draco was hit squarely between the eyes and fell backwards out of his chair. Binns glanced up from his book, looked over the bridge of his eyeglasses, and stared at the young Slytherin.   
  
"Mr. Maldry," he said, drawing out every word to be longer than it had to be, "will you please refrain from disrupting my class in the future?" He didn't wait for his answer but instead went back to his book.   
  
Draco glanced around on the ground for what had hit him. He grasped the inkbottle in his hand and smoothed out the wrinkles in the piece of parchment.   
  
"Why were you on the pitch?" was written in Hermione's delicate script.   
  
His mind whirled as he tried to recollect what she was talking about. Bits and pieces began to come together until the memory dawned on him.   
  
He caught her eyes from across the classroom and threw his reply back at her.   
  
"I'll tell you after class. Pitch: 7:00. Don't be late." The _expression on her face fell. She had hoped he would tell her now; she needed something to keep her occupied for the next forty-five minutes.   
  
She sent him an exasperated look and he just smirked back at her, glad he could make her life a little more despondent. She sighed and put her head down on the desk like the majority of her classmates and went into a deep slumber for the remainder of class.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
An icy breeze swept through the Quidditch Pitch and over Hermione. Her already red cheeks burned from the bitter contact of the air. Fall was moving in and kicking summer out earlier than usual. She glanced around once more and let out a very loud and aggravated sigh.   
  
'He's fifteen minutes late.' She thought to herself. 'He's not coming. Once again he's made me look like a fool. He's probably telling his entire house how Hermione Granger is out waiting in the cold for him. Stupid git.'   
  
She kicked the ground hard with the toe of her boot. A shiver ran up her spine and she started the long trek back to the castle.   
  
"Where are you going Granger?" Draco drawled from the opposite side of the field. She spun around and sent him a fierce look.   
  
"Malfoy you kept me waiting out in the freezing cold for nearly twenty minutes. Now just tell me why you were here so I can go." Her words came out full of irritation and faltered a bit since she was shivering so hard.   
  
"What's the matter Granger? Cold?" She stood there shaking and didn't answer him.   
  
"Why were you there?" She said slowly through clenched teeth. Her eyes locked onto his and narrowed.   
  
"You really want to know?" He asked. She nodded her head in response and he closed some of the distance between them so he was but five feet from her. 'Are you sure?"   
  
"For Merlin's sake Malfoy, just tell me so I can go!" She shouted. He had the nerve to smile at her.   
  
"Alright fine. I was. . ." he paused to see if he would get a reaction from the Gryffindor. He saw the fire in her eyes and decided not to push it if he valued his life. "I was hiding. Goodnight Granger." He started to walk back to the school.   
  
"Hiding?" She called after him. "Hiding from what?" He turned to face her again.   
  
"Pansy, who else?" He laughed at the memory. She had invented her very own love potion and wanted to try it out on him so they could go flying. By the time he had gotten back she had accidentally dropped the vial which held her precious potion and wasn't able to remember the formula. "Goodnight Granger."   
  
Hermione was speechless as she watched his retreating form make its way back to the school. He had made her wait all this time for this? She had spent countless hours burning brain cells pondering over all the possible things he might have been doing. She had expected something secretive and dark from the Slytherin prince and instead she had learned what she already knew, Draco hated Pansy.   
  
It wasn't until she saw him enter the castle that she began to walk back.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
Draco smiled to himself as he made his way to the doors of the castle. He knew that Granger was furious at him for his little stunt but it had been worth it to him to see her reaction.   
  
He hadn't lied to her though. He had been hiding from Pansy the night they ran into each other on the pitch, and she had made a love potion for him. What he didn't tell her was that he had been hiding from someone else that night, his father.   
  
His father happened to be a very hard person to hide from. He had known where his son was but let Draco think he was in control. It wasn't until he had returned to the school after his encounter with Hermione that he had learned otherwise.   
  
Lucius had come to explain to Draco his duties when Voldemort passed out of existence. The Dark Lord's reign of terror was coming to an end. He was dying from fatigue and old age. By the time Draco was twenty he would most likely have to take over and rule Voldemort's empire.   
  
Draco, of course, had never been too thrilled about this. He and his father had argued throughout the night, resulting in Draco being given several cuts and bruises on his chest and back.   
  
That had been almost one month ago. But while the cuts may be gone, the scars still remained to remind him of his responsibilities. Draco had become accustomed to these quarrels with his father. He had been beaten since he was old enough to know what they meant, and he always lost.   
  
The memory of his father wiped the smile from Draco's face. He solemnly returned to his common room. Pansy sat in one of the many high-backed chairs waiting for him. When she saw him she immediately ran towards him and so began the daily routine of her throwing herself at him and him insulting her in return.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
Hermione sat next to Harry and Ron in the common room going over their Potions essay for the week.   
  
"No Ron, you're supposed to add four pinches of powdered newt, not five. If you add too much it will turn green and-" Hermione surprised both boys by stopping her lecture mid-sentence.   
  
"Hermione?" Harry said and prodded her in the arm with his quill. She didn't respond. "Hermione?" He said again.   
  
He looked at Ron but he didn't know what to do either. Suddenly their friend began to convulse and fell from the couch.   
  
They watched as her eyes rolled back into her skull and her mouth fell open in a silent scream.   
  
'It's happening again.' She thought while wildly trying to regain control of her body. 'Why won't they leave me alone?'   
  
She saw Harry and Ron hovering over her before the common room vanished. She found herself in a large marble hallway. She was surrounded by crystal chandeliers and golden vases filled with white roses. She leaned against one of the walls and took everything in.   
  
'Where am I?' She thought. 'I've never left Hogwarts in my visions and this is definitely not Hogwarts.'   
  
Her curiosity taking over her she decided to explore a bit. At the end of the long hallway was a large set of doors.   
  
'If I'm not really here I wonder if I have to open them.' She tentatively put her hand up to the door and pushed. She was still solid and couldn't go through it. 'Damn. Now I have to open it.'   
  
She opened the door and slid her slim frame through the opening. She found herself inside a large study, filled with books and spare pieces of parchment strewn everywhere.   
  
Standing in the middle of everything was Draco and his father.   
  
"Please, no." Draco pleaded quietly. His father hovered over him with a malicious sneer on his face.   
  
"Let this teach you a lesson in obedience, boy." He said and raised his hand. He held a long leather whip over his son. Hermione noted that there were several long tears in the back of Draco's white dress shirt where he had already been whipped. Dried blood had stained the garment and dripped onto the floor where it streamed together in a pool at Lucius' feet.   
  
Hermione shrieked along with Draco; her out of fear and him out of pain; as the whip was brought down over and over again onto his pale skin, the shirt now clinging to his torso in bloody shreds, torn and stained in a deep crimson, tiny rivulets of blood dripping down his back, seeping into the dark fabric of his pants, almost as if they were trying to escape the wrath of Lucius. She sighed in relief when Lucius finally let the whip fall from his hands. Draco collapsed onto the floor in a terrified heap, lying dismally in his own blood.   
  
As much as she wanted to look away she found her eyes drawn to her classmate in front of her and found it impossible to avert her eyes from the heartbreaking sight.   
  
The older man reached over and gripped his wand in one of his pale, bony hands. He brought the stick of wood up so that it was level with his face.   
  
"Crucio." He said in a voice just above a whisper. Draco jerked around on the floor. His entire body shook with pain, contorting and bending in ways that just didn't come naturally. Hermione heard the joints in his body fall out of socket with loud 'Pop's and he released a scream like Hermione had never heard before.  
  
It was a heart wrenching scream filled with such pain and suffering that it at once reminded Hermione of a book she had read about Muggle torturing during the medieval times when people performed barbaric punishments such as stretching a prisoner until all the bones in their body snapped, when the muscles ripped off the bone at the tendons. She closed her eyes at the sound, willing it with all her might to stop, she wanted the torture to be over, she wanted Draco to be okay. After several minutes Lucius finally released his son from the curse. The boy lay crumpled on the floor and didn't move.   
  
"Merry Christmas." He said before he left the room.   
  
Hermione immediately ran to Draco's side. He wasn't breathing, wasn't moving; he looked so much smaller than he really was. Before she could check to see that he was even still alive she found herself sprawled on the floor of the Gryffindor common room covered in sweat.   
  
Her vision cleared and she saw her friends leaning over her.   
  
"Hermione? Hermione! You're back!" Harry shouted and helped her to her feet. Her knees went weak and she crumpled to the ground again. Together, Harry and Ron lifted her up and placed her on the couch. Her breath came in rapid gasps as she tried to take in all that she had just seen.   
  
"Hermione what did you see?" Ron said gently and stroked her hair reassuringly.   
  
"You and Harry were buying sweets in Hogsmeade." She lied quickly, not quite sure if she should tell everyone what she had really seen. It was, after all, very personal. "You know, I'm really tired. I think I'll go to bed early."   
  
She wished her classmates goodnight and made her way up the spiral staircase. She shut the door and leaned up against the back of it. The intensity of what she had witnessed finally took her over. She slid down and sat on the floor, gazing off into oblivion, unable to keep her mind on anything but what she had just seen.   
  
'What do I do? What do I do?' Her mind played the question over and over like a broken record player. "I can't change the future. I know that. I should just try to ignore it and let what happens happen. But I can't do that. He could die. This isn't a few broken ribs. If I felt bad about being able to prevent his injury before I won't be able to live with myself if he dies.'   
  
'I can't change the future. Then what am I going to do if he dies?' She argued the situation over and over in her head. 'You can't alter the future. It's destined to happen. What would I do if he died and I was left with that guilt? I can't deal with that. I can't let this vision come true.'   
  
She banged a fist against the door. 'This is too much pressure to put on too small a person.' She decided as she climbed into bed. 'I can't tell Harry and Ron about this one though. They just wouldn't understand.'   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
And that is the extent of this chapter. I'm trying to make all my chapters a little bit longer. I'm doing a little better with it. Be proud of me. I'm trying really hard!   
  
REVIEW! 


	12. Chapter Twelve

Disclaimer - No mine, no sue.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
Hermione laid awake most of the night thinking about what to do with the situation with Draco. She knew that she couldn't let him die. Her conscience wouldn't allow that. Something about seeing her enemy reduced to nothing had sparked a flame inside her that just would not let her ignore the issue. She had to do something; she had to save him.   
  
Eventually her roommates came in and she was forced to pretend she was sleeping since that had been her excuse to escape questioning in the common room.   
  
She could hear their hushed whispers as they chatted about boys, make-up, and then something that surprised her. They were talking about her.   
  
"You really think she's gone nuts, Parvati?" Lavender asked, sounding a bit unsure. It wasn't everyday the smartest girl in the year acted like a complete maniac. No one knew what to think of it.   
  
"Oh course." Her friend hissed back. "What other explanation is there? Unless she's just doing this for attention. Maybe that's it." Her voice trailed off as she thought of the possibility.   
  
"That can't be it though. Parvati, her visions came true! She can't be doing that for attention. She gets enough of it anyway. I tell you that girl is too bloody smart for her own good." Lavender and Parvati giggled for a minute. Hermione turned over on her bed so that her back was facing them and they couldn't see the tears they had caused her. Both girls frantically turned to make sure she was still asleep.   
  
"I'm going to bed. Do you have anymore of that mask you wear while you sleep to make your pores smaller?" Parvati nodded and the two girls began their nightly beautification rituals. Soon after they had fallen into a deep slumber.   
  
Hermione's bed creaked as she tentatively crept out of it. She picked up her winter cloak and put it on over her lacy satin nightgown.   
  
The sixth year boys were all asleep when Hermione tiptoed into their room. She silently removed Harry's invisibility cloak from the trunk located at the end of his bed. She told herself she would have it back before he even noticed it was gone.   
  
Walking about the grounds had become a tradition for Hermione over the years when she couldn't sleep or had a lot on her mind. Now she had both. The cloudless sky calmed her as she took her first step outside and gazed up at the starts. Astronomy had never been her favorite subject but she did find the night sky quite beautiful. There was just some kind of mystery about it; it allowed room for fantasy and magnificence that no other thing quite allowed.   
  
Using her invisibility to her advantage, she carelessly circled the lake and watched on in awe as the giant squid shot water up into the air with its many tentacles like a colossal fountain.   
  
This was the first time her walk hadn't cleared her mind of her troubles. She still saw Draco vividly in her mind crumpled in a helpless pile on the ground, stained crimson red from his own blood. That wasn't something she would soon forget; it had left too much of an impact on her.   
  
"I know I have to help him." She whispered aloud to herself. "But how? I don't know where he lives. I don't know how to get into his manor. I'm only sixteen. All of this really should not be happening to me."   
  
She gazed back at the castle longingly, envying all of the students inside sleeping peacefully, not having to worry about saving the lives of their enemies or finding their true identities.   
  
"Maybe I should just tell Draco about the vision. It'll save me the trouble of finding his house and everything. He could just stay here for the Christmas Holidays." As the plan formed in her mind a voice in the back of her head kept telling her, "That won't work. Lucius will just do it again next time he sees him. You have to put a stop to all of it, not just put it off temporarily."   
  
She finally gave into the voice. She knew it was right. Lucius would probably just hurt him more the next time he saw him because he didn't come home for the holidays. She had roughly two months to figure out all the details she needed. She needed to start work as soon as she possibly could.   
  
"We go to Hogsmeade in a week for Halloween. I can start after that."   
  
Hogsmeade; the word struck the core of her body and she stopped mid-stride. Going to Hogsmeade meant she would see her parents, her real parents. With all of her visions the thought had completely skipped her mind.   
  
"Oh God, I'm not ready for this. I was supposed to have been planning what to say, what to wear. What am I going to do?" Her breathing quickened and air became scarce in her lungs. She put her hands on her head, her fingers curling in her hair, frustration seeping in. "Deep breaths. Come on Hermione; keep breathing. That's the key." Her gasping slowed until she was once again breathing normally.   
  
"I have so many questions for them. Should I write them down? No, they don't have to know I'm a complete book nerd. I'll just have to remember them really well." There was so much she had to do. She quickened her step and jogged back to her dorm room, only stopping to give Harry back his cloak.   
  
Even though her mind was spinning, the moment Hermione's head touched her pillow she fell into a deep sleep.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
"Lavender." Hermione shook the sleeping blonde. "Lavender! For heavens sake wake up! I need fashion advice!"   
  
That did it. Her eyes sprung open and she leaped from the bed.   
  
"Hermione Granger is asking me for fashion advice? Wow. I never thought this day would come. Hold on a second, I need to get Parvati in here to see this." Her roommate left the room momentarily only to return with her best friend. "So what do you need help with?"   
  
"I don't know what to wear!" Hermione motioned to her bed where all of her clothes were strewn about. The other two girls picked through the pile, every once in a while pulling out something they thought would be acceptable.   
  
"Can you please hurry it up?" Hermione whined. "We leave for Hogsmeade in two hours and I want to look decent the first time I see my parents."   
  
Lavender and Parvati quickened their pace. They put the pile of clothes they had decided upon in an armchair. They held up different articles of clothing, trying to decide what would look good on the petite brunette.   
  
"So what's the look we're going for here? Smart? Cute?" Parvati said as she dismissed a knee length black skirt.   
  
"Normal." Hermione answered. "I just want to look normal."   
  
"Well that's easy enough to achieve." Lavender said. "Okay I think we have it."   
  
Hermione was handed a gray skirt that fell just above her knee and a small pale blue short sleeve dress shirt, it was a little tight but still looked outstanding, just as her roommates knew it would.   
  
"Wear these too." Said Lavender, who had been rummaging around in Hermione's trunk. She thrust a pair of black loafers into her hands. "Simple but still incredibly chic."   
  
Hermione put on the shoes and modeled her outfit for the girls. They smiled before dragging her by her forearm and sitting her in a chair in front of a humongous vanity mirror.   
  
"What are you doing?" Hermione said and tried to squirm away, but she was no match for the two of them together, especially when they were at the climax of making Hermione over.   
  
"You cannot wear that hair with that outfit. It just doesn't go." Hermione sighed but eventually gave up the struggle and let the girls do their business. They said a few simple charms and her hair lost its frizz and fell in very gentle curls down her back and over her shoulders.   
  
They applied small amounts of make-up to her face before standing back to admire their work. Hermione hadn't been able to see the finished product yet since they were standing in front on the mirror but she knew that their grins must be a good sign. They moved aside and she saw herself for the first time that day.   
  
She almost didn't recognize herself. She looked almost completely different. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she looked cute, and she liked it. 'Maybe I'll let them doll me up every once in a while.' She thought as she ran a hand through her now smooth hair.   
  
"Thanks a lot." She said and gave both of the girls a hug. "But I have to go. I'll see you later."   
  
Harry, Ron, and the rest of the Gryffindor boys all gave her a wide-eyed stare as she entered the common room.   
  
"Stop!" She yelled at them and they all blushed and looked away. She joined her two friends. "It's not that bad is it?"   
  
"No. It's not bad. Not bad at all." Ron sputtered.   
  
"Well that's a relief. Come on, well miss the train to Hogsmeade." She grabbed their arms and pulled them towards the door. The eyes of half the common room followed her but she took no notice. She could be quite oblivious sometimes.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
"Good luck 'Mione." Harry and Ron both told her as the three friends stood in front of the only bookstore in Hogsmeade. "Be careful." She hugged them both and crossed her fingers as she went inside. She was practically shaking with nerves as she reached for the smooth handle.   
  
A bell rang as she opened the door. A slender woman behind the counter looked up and gave her a warm smile.   
  
"Can I help you dear?" She said and wiped her dusty hands on her robe.   
  
"That depends, are you Joyce Kelgara?" Hermione took a tentative step towards the counter of the bookstore she had visited countless times before. Her hands were shaking and she held them together in front of her.   
  
"Yes I am. What do you need?" Once again she smiled, but it was a confused one.   
  
"Can you please get your husband? I have something I need to tell you." Joyce nodded and slowly backed out of the store. She came back with a tall man. They both looked rather perplexed.   
  
"You are Josef and Joyce Kelgara?" She asked once more.   
  
"Yes. What's all this about?" Josef said and closed some of the distance between him and Hermione.   
  
"I am Hermione Alexis Granger. It's nice to meet you." She held out her hand and shook his. They still didn't understand exactly what was happening. "Perhaps I should rephrase that. I am Alexis Kelgara, and. . .and you are my. . parents."   
  
Joyce's knees gave way from shock and she fell into a chair. Josef nervously looked from his wife to his daughter, trying to decide what to say. "Maybe we should go into the office." He finally said. Hermione nodded and followed the couple into a small room. He pulled up three plush armchairs so they sat in a circle.   
  
"I never thought this day would come." Joyce admitted. She took in her daughter for the first time.   
  
"I had hoped it wouldn't." Her husband said. "Hermione, it is Hermione, isn't it?" She nodded. "Hermione we had reason for never trying to contact you. You don't want to associate with us. Trust me. We're not favored by most of the wizarding world."   
  
"That doesn't mean I still don't want to know you. You're my parents! Every child should know their parents." She collected herself again, and taking a deep breath, she sat up professionally and began her interview. "Okay, the first thing I want to know is do you know anything about why I am having visions?"   
  
"Well that's easy enough, I was always an exceptional student. Trelawney always said I would someday have her job." Her mother chuckled awkwardly.   
  
"Why did you leave me?" Her parents both shifted uneasily in their seats, not sure how to answer that exactly.   
  
"Well you see," Her mother said and paused. "You see, you weren't exactly born for the purpose most children are born for."   
  
Josef leaned closer to his daughter and pulled back the sleeve of his robe. Hermione gasped as she saw the gruesome image pictured on his forearm.   
  
"I am, was, a deatheater." He said quietly and covered the mark again. "I don't know how to put this gently. You're a big girl so I'm not going to spare you of anything. You were born to be Voldemort's heir. He wanted a boy, but since-"   
  
"I was a girl he didn't want me. And you put me up for adoption out of shame." Hermione finished for him. She felt the familiar stinging burn in the corners of her eyes and she knew the tears would soon come. She looked back and forth between their guilty faces. "Please tell me that's not what you were going to say."   
  
"I'm sorry." Her mother said and reached out to touch her shoulder. Hermione stood from her chair, recoiling from her touch. She glanced quickly between the two people in front of her, and a small tear escaped the threshold of her eyelids, rolling gently and sorrowfully down the curvature of her visage. Without another word she fled from the store.   
  
She bumped into many people on the crowded streets outside the shop but she took no notice of them. She could only concentrate on getting as far from that place as possible. Her breathing became ragged and forced as she made her way down the street.   
  
She finally came to a nearly deserted area of the street and curled up in a corner. Tears poured over her cheeks and made small wet spots on her shirt. She cried harder than she had ever cried before. People who passed her took little heed of the depressed girl. Only one person stopped. But she didn't notice them.   
  
'I waited so long for this.' She thought, 'I worked so hard, thought so long. Why did this have to happen?' She seemed to be wondering that a lot this year. 'He was right. Malfoy was right about the entire thing. The shame; everything. God, that just makes it worse.'   
  
Another burst of sobs shook her frame and she buried her head in her hands. The mascara that her roommates had so carefully applied was now in long black streaks down her face, and as she leaned her head back against the wall behind her, one passing on the street might have jumped back in shock at such a beauteous girl in such a deep and pitiful sorrow.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
There was something about seeing how upset the girl was that stopped Draco. He watched her as she shook and muttered quietly to herself in between sobs. It wasn't until she leaned her head back against the wall that he saw who it was.   
  
'What does Granger have to be this upset about? She's the perfect one who-' He stopped mid-thought when he remembered what today meant for her. 'Well now she knows at least. Doesn't have to keep wondering what kind of saints her parents were. Even though she already kind of knew. It's probably killing her that I was right.'   
  
For some reason he didn't find any joy in the fact that he was part of the reason she was this unhappy. On the contrary, his blood turned cold and he felt like his insides had turned to stone. The feeling scared him. Giving one last glance to the crying girl, he backed away slowly, turned on his heel and walked in the opposite direction.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
And that's it for chapter twelve. I'm getting better at the long chapter thing. My problem is I don't have much to put into my chapters so I have to elaborate a lot and I'm not great at that.   
  
  
  
Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. I've been preoccupied with other things. I just started a website so I've been working on that a lot. I would love it if any/all (stress on all) of you joined. The URL is http://durmstrangacademy.tripod.com or the forum is http://selvagem.suddenlaunch2.com/. The website is also on my profile page. Thanks.  
  
  
  
REVIEW! 


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Disclaimer - Yenom on evah I. Em eus t'nod os enim t'nera yeht, yawyna. Gnikrow ti si? Elpoep esufnoc ot sdrawkcab tnemmoc siht gnitirw ma I.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
"Hermione?" Harry said and put an arm around his friend for support. "Hermione it's time to go. Come on."   
  
Hermione was still huddled in her corner at the end of Hogsmeade's main street. She looked up at him with red eyes and a sob escaped her. She buried her face in his shoulder and let him pick her up, one hand holding up her back and the other under her knees.   
  
"Ron, maybe we should take the Honeydukes passage. She's kind of sensitive right now you know?" Ron nodded and they snuck off towards the candy store. The owners were busy trying to bustle the students out of the store, so they didn't notice when Harry and Ron carried Hermione into their storeroom, opened the trapdoor, and shut it silently behind them.   
  
"You want me to take her for awhile?" Ron asked. Harry moved her into an easier carrying position.   
  
"No it's okay, she's not heavy." Hermione's body still shook from time to time as the sadness she had within her erupted. Her friends tried to calm her to the best of their ability but it was of no use, she wasn't one to be comforted at the moment.   
  
They arrived back at Hogwarts before their classmates and that gave them a little time to make her look a bit more presentable. After a moment's contemplation about taking her cloak off, they finally decided it would be best to leave her fully clothed. Who knows what she would be yelling as soon as she got back into her right mind. Ron pulled back the bed covers and Harry laid her gently down on the mattress, brushing her hair out of her face. They tucked her in, watched her silently for a moment, and then crept from her room. She would be asleep by the time her roommates arrived.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
The next morning Hermione came down the spiral staircase with a forced smile plastered onto her face. If one took a minute to look, her eyes would convey the hurt she felt inside. After a few hello's here and there, she, Harry, and Ron left the common room to take a walk outside.   
  
All was silent for a few minutes until Ron finally spoke, shattering the uneasy energy around the three. "So, are you ready to talk about it?"   
  
"No." She said quietly and sped up her pace a little. They met her stride for stride and walked in circles around the castle.   
  
"He was right you know." She whispered. They looked at her sympathetically but didn't say anything. If she wanted to say anything more she would. They weren't going to push her, not this time. "Malfoy. Everything he said was true. I grew up as a Muggle because my real parents were ashamed of me." She hissed out the last sentence and anger replaced the sadness in her face.   
  
"Well we're not ashamed of you." Ron reassured her and each of the boys simultaneously threw their arms around her in a gigantic hug. She allowed a small yet real smile and looked at the two of them. Taking one of their hands in each of her own, she led them back to the castle.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
Draco sat in one of Slytherin's many emerald armchairs thinking. His fellow house members were enjoying their Sunday off by being outside in the frigid air, something he just didn't understand. He didn't feel the need to become a frostbitten icicle, thank you very much.   
  
'Don't know why she was so upset. It's not like it was brand new information. I told her all about it already. . .which could be part of the problem.' He had been racking his mind for hours thinking about her. 'Oh well, I had to. If I didn't the anticipation would have killed me.' He ran a hand through his slick blonde hair, which fell in an unkempt manner over his eyes. 'She'll get over it eventually. She's tough right? Gryffindors are tough. And if I spend any more time thinking about her it could be bad for my health.' He stood up and cleared his mind of anything that even remotely resembled Hermione Granger. 'That's better. No more thinking about Granger- Damn it. Okay, actually going to do it this time.'   
  
He left the common room to search for Professor Snape around the castle. He sometimes had tutoring on Sundays; it was part of the reason he was such a successful Potions student.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
Hermione had gone off on her own after her walk with Harry and Ron, and eventually she found herself seated in one of the first floor hallways on the stone floor with her back against a statue of Pegasus.   
  
She didn't cry. She had cried enough the day before to last her for a while. Her eyes were glazed over as she thought over yesterday's events. In the back of her mind she heard the click of a boot's heels on the stone floor but it didn't register with her brain until the person was hovering over her.   
  
"Miss Granger?" Said a chilly voice. She glanced up and looked into the face of Professor Snape.   
  
"Oh, hello Professor. I'll leave now. Sorry." She stuttered and stood up quickly, dusting herself off quickly. He put up a hand to stop her and she froze.   
  
"Come with me." He said, as he turned and walked the opposite direction down the hall, not checking to see if she was even behind him still. She walked briskly to keep up with him and he led her to the dungeons and into the Potions classroom.   
  
He sat down behind his desk and summoned a chair for her so she could be seated across from him. She sat down silently and waited for him to say something, anything.   
  
He took a deep breath and folded his hands on top of the desk. For some reason it had pained his heart to see the Gryffindor so distraught. He pitied her and knew the feeling wouldn't leave him alone unless he did something about it.   
  
"Miss Granger," he started, trying to find the right words to use. "I think it's time for me to tell you a bit about what I knew of your parents." He paused and she didn't breath. She hadn't been expecting this, not in the least. It was still a very touchy subject for her and she was surprised he had the courage to bring it up when she was still so vulnerable.   
  
She didn't say anything; he hadn't expected her to. This would probably end up being a one-sided conversation where he talked and she listened. Hanging onto his every word but never giving any of her own.   
  
"As the headmaster has already told you, I was your father's best friend when we were at school together. We did everything together. He was a good man. Your mother and I rivaled for his time." He mused softly. "She was always very upset when he chose to spend his free time with me instead of her. Mostly we spied on James Potter and his friends, trying to find things they did while breaking the rules and then turning them in to one of the teachers."   
  
"After Hogwarts we both joined with Voldemort." She knew this already, but tried to look as if it was new to her. She wondered briefly if the look she had fixed on her face appeared to make her seem more constipated rather than shocked. "After some time I realized that it was wrong, not something I wanted to be doing. So I became a spy for the Ministry, letting them know about everything the deatheaters were doing. Your father, however, was devoted to the Dark Lord in a way I will never truly understand."   
  
"I believe you know the rest of that story so I will not trouble you with it." She nodded slightly, her eyes never leaving his face. "What I want to tell you is a story of one of our happier times. He really was a good person, your mother as well. He just got off track."   
  
"In our last year at school Josef and I were intent on seeing James, Sirius, and Remus all expelled. One day we-" He told her a long story of how her father and he had tricked the three Gryffindors into being somewhere they knew Filch would be after curfew. They almost had been expelled, but at the last moment Peeves had made a mess of a nearby hallway and they had snuck off when Filch had gone to see what the damage was.   
  
She smiled at the Professor when he was finished. He did have a soft side, she realized. He didn't feel hate and sadness all the time. She thanked him for taking time out of his schedule to help her. He nodded stiffly, but she noticed a twinkling gleam in his eyes before he began to furiously grade papers. She stood from her chair and walked towards the door where her eyes locked with a pair of stormy gray ones.   
  
Draco was once again leaning against the frame of the Potions room doorway. She continued walking and brushed past him. She sighed as the harsh sound of his heels clicking came from behind her and she whirled around to face him.   
  
"Malfoy not now okay? I really do not have the patience or the strength to deal with you right now." She turned and began to make her way back to Gryffindor Tower again. To her surprise he stopped her, and she glanced at the hand that now held her tightly yet a bit gently on the arm.   
  
"Look," he drawled slowly, "I'm tired of feeling guilty for this so I'm going to say this once and only once." He stopped for a moment and looked her in the eyes and she noticed he was nervous. She surveyed him quickly and found that he was kicking the ground with the toe of his boot, seeming rather unsure of himself. "I'm sorry that I didn't let you find out for yourself okay? I know it probably didn't help that you found out from me." The words came out quickly and a bit forcefully, but nevertheless she understood every bit of it.   
  
She gave him a weak smile but couldn't find her voice. Somehow he knew she forgave him though. It might have been that she was just in a good mood after talking with the Professor or that she was just feeling absolvent, but she did forgive him.   
  
Neither of them spoke for several minutes, they only stood looking at each other in an awkward yet strangely relieving silence, and after taking a breath, she decided to take her leave. The walk back to Gryffindor Tower stretched on and on as she replayed Snape's story in her mind. It was touching to know that not everything her parents had done had hurt people. They had been teenagers just like she was once.   
  
While she couldn't forget what they had done to her, she was starting to understand why they did it a bit more. It had been a horrible reason but everyone makes stupid decisions sometimes. Some were just a little bit stupider than others.  
  
She crossed her arms over her stomach and shivered in the cold. Soon the snow would come and they would have a beautiful white holiday season.   
  
'And that,' she thought, 'is always something to look forward to.'   
  
She smiled to herself once more and arrived at the portrait hole.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
I know it's short. But there was not much that had to be accomplished in this chapter. However, the next one will defiantly be long. I only have two more chapters, three if I decide to do an epilogue. Gosh that makes me sad. I've been working on this for over two months now. It feels so weird that it's almost over.   
  
I have, however, already begun my new story. It's called The Snake Charmer if you want to read it.   
  
REVIEW! 


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Disclaimer - Over the course of my life I think I have written about one hundred of these stupid comments. If you haven't gotten the idea yet, deal with it.   
  
I apologize to all of you who thought I made Draco too out of character in the last chapter. That's just how it happened in my mind so I wrote it that way. I really don't believe that he is completely heartless and I think he does feel remorse for some of the things he does, even if he doesn't show it all the time.   
  
Read on!   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
Hermione stood outside a large building made of solid granite, looking at the door. The silver knocker was a large serpent with its mouth bared, showing it's long fangs. Her hand trembled with fear as she silently opened the door.   
  
She entered the hallway and it was exactly as she had envisioned it; made completely of marble with extremely expensive looking artifacts about the walls. At the end of the corridor was a pair of double doors she knew led into the study.   
  
She heard a pained scream and ran as quietly as she could to the end of the hall, hoping she wasn't to late. Throwing open the doors she saw Draco lying on the floor with thick red streaks across his back and covering his face and hands.   
  
Before Lucius could react she petrified him and then bound and gagged him. She would deal with him later. Draco lay semiconscious in a puddle of his own blood, gazing up at her. He struggled to get to his feet but collapsed onto the floor once more, landing with a thud on the cold marble.   
  
"Granger?" He said tentatively. His eyes were glazed over and he kept repeating her last name over and over again until he passed out. His eyes slowly rolled back into his head and his mouth fell open.   
  
"Oh God, don't die. Please don't die." She bent down to check his pulse. His heart was still beating, but only faintly. She had to get him back to Hogwarts, fast. After saying a simple spell to make him weightless she carried him outside and put him in front of her on the broom she had stolen from the school.   
  
"Don't worry. It'll be okay." She said to him although he couldn't hear her. She kicked off from the ground and up into the air. The clouds swirled around her as she soared above them and tried to remember which way it was to the castle. She dove under the clouds once more to find the tall church steeple, if she flew towards that she was going the right way.   
  
She spotted it through the mist and flew towards the sound of its' bells ringing. Draco groaned and moved in his unconscious state, nearly falling fifty feet to the marshy ground below. At the last second Hermione caught him by the sleeve of his designer robe and pulled him to safety.   
  
"Don't leave Draco, not yet. We're so close." She could see the four towers of the school brushing their way through the top of the clouds. Draco groaned again and opened his eyes. He clutched his stomach in pain. When he brought his hands away they were covered in blood. "Hold on. Please hold on." She urged him.   
  
His eyes focused on her for the first time and he blinked several times, as if trying to make sure it wasn't a dream. "Granger?" He was about to reach out and touch her when another spasm of pain shook him and he grasped his stomach again.   
  
She coaxed the broom to go as fast as it could with her legs and sped towards the castle. She landed as close to the school as she could and dragged Draco inside and to the Hospital Wing. He grimaced with every step he tried to take until once again, he fainted.   
  
"Madam Pomfrey! Madam Pomfrey!" Hermione yelled as she left Draco at the entrance to the room and ran in search of the nurse. The old woman came out of her office and looking at the girl in confusion.   
  
"What is it dear? Is something-" Hermione cut her off before she could finish her sentence and pulled her towards the body of the limp boy. Madam Pomfrey wasted no time in putting him straight to bed and treating the various wounds over his body. Hermione watched on to make sure he would be all right.   
  
After she was sure he would live she ran to tell Dumbledore what she had seen at the manor. She sprinted across the castle and arrived at the griffin statue completely winded. She panted and managed to say the password, "Peppermint Imps," in between two deep breaths.   
  
She climbed the stairs that appeared and barged into his office. The Headmaster was talking to Fawkes and looked up when she intruded. His eyes twinkled and he motioned for her to sit down but she remained as near to the door as she could.   
  
"Professor! Draco, in the manor! Lucius! He's still there! Come on! We have to go!" She motioned to the door and started to leave. Dumbledore gave her a perplexed look but remained in his spot.   
  
"Miss Granger, perhaps you could tell me exactly what you mean." She knew he knew a little more than he was letting on but she caught her breath and spilled out everything she had done.   
  
"Professor I have visions. At first I thought they were just dreams but then they all came true. I had one where I saw Malfoy being abused by his father on Christmas and I know you told me I can't change to future or the past but I had to. I'm so sorry Professor. I couldn't just let him die though! I never would have been able to overcome the guilt.   
  
So for the past two weeks I've been eavesdropping on other people's conversations to find out where Malfoy Manor was located and then once I found that out I figured the easiest way to get there would be to fly. So I stole one of the brooms from the Quidditch storage and flew it to the manor.   
  
I got there right before Lucius would have placed Draco under the Cruciatus Curse and I petrified him. He's lying in his study now, bound and gagged. I brought Draco here and left him with Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing but we have to go!" She went through the day's events hurriedly and tried once again to guide the headmaster towards the door but he didn't move.   
  
"So you have inherited some of your mother's talent, I always wondered if you would." He gave her a small smile and she gave a frustrated sigh.   
  
"Professor we have to go! What if someone frees Lucius? He'll just come here and take Draco back!" She threw the door open and started down the stairs, this time the professor followed her.   
  
She grabbed the broom she had used previously that day and thrust another into the older man's hands. She mounted and had nearly taken off before he reached out and stopped her.   
  
"Miss Granger, if I may, I know a much faster way to get there." He motioned for her to follow him as he walked towards the Hogwarts gates. Once outside he gripped her arms and told her to close her eyes. When she did she felt her body being pulled from the forest around her. When she opened them again she was standing outside Malfoy Manor's gates.   
  
"I think you had better let me go in first." She nodded and followed him into the mansion. Lucius still lay writhing on the floor where she had left him. Narcissa must have been gone for the day and the house elves knew not to disturb him once he had shut that door. His eyes shown with fury when Hermione entered the room.   
  
She flinched under his intense gaze and found she couldn't look at him. She listened as Dumbledore explained that they were taking him to the ministry and if he had his way about it, Lucius would soon be joining many of his fellow death eaters in Azkaban.   
  
Dumbledore held Hermione's arm in one hand and Lucius's in the other and apparated the three of them to the Ministry's main building.   
  
"Hermione, go inside and get Mr. Fudge. I'll wait out here with Mr. Malfoy." Hermione followed his order without question and fetched the Minister of Magic from his office.   
  
"Cornelius, as soon as it is possible Mr. Malfoy needs to be put on trial for child abuse." Fudge couldn't bring his eyes to meet that of the headmaster. He was still a pawn of Lucius at the Ministry.   
  
"Albus, you know we can't put a man in Azkaban for child abuse. It's only for the serious things." He said quietly as he shuddered in fear of the blonde man bound at his feet.   
  
"But he did do something serious Mr. Fudge!" Hermione spoke up for the first time. All three men looked at the normally quiet girl in surprise. She went on, "He put his son under the Cruciatus Curse."   
  
The Minister's eyes widened at this. He knew now that no matter how much of a bribe Lucius offered there was nothing that could be done to help him, he would go to Azkaban. He shook his head and told Dumbledore that there wouldn't be a trial; he would go strait to the wizards' prison.   
  
Lucius screamed through his gag and kicked out furiously at the three people surrounding him. Several Aurors came out of the building and took him away. Hermione sighed in relief and sunk to the ground.   
  
The headmaster pulled her to her feet and took them back to Hogwarts. They walked through the gates and were to the Entrance Hall before either spoke.   
  
"You did a good thing today Miss Granger, protecting your enemy like that. Thirty points to Gryffindor, I'll make sure to add it." He smiled one last time before returning to his office.   
  
Her mind screamed that he wasn't her enemy anymore and she longed to say it aloud, but somehow she knew that he was already aware. She marveled at how he knew everything that went on in the castle before walking mindlessly back to the Hospital Wing to check on Draco.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
Draco opened his eyes to see Hermione Granger curled up in an armchair nearby with a book in her lap. Her head rested on the back of the chair and she was lightly sleeping. She looked very peaceful when she slept, he noted.   
  
When he stretched a searing pain was let loose near his abdomen and he cried out in pain. Hermione stirred from her sleep and went to his side. She pushed him back onto the pillow and put a cold washcloth on his head.   
  
"Don't make any sudden movements." She said and she rummaged through the various vials next to his bed. She pulled out one filled with a revolting yellow potion and held it out to him. "Drink this once every two hours and you'll be fine."   
  
He grunted as he lifted his arm up to take the potion from her. He lifted it to his lips and grimaced as the thick liquid poured down his throat. His insides burned but it did numb the pain in his stomach a bit. He managed to give the bottle back to her before sleep claimed him again.   
  
Hermione returned the vial to the table and curled back up in her chair, determined not to leave until he was able to leave as well. Madam Pomfrey came by to check on her patient. She took his temperature and changed the washcloth on his forehead before turning to Hermione and smiling.   
  
"He will be okay won't he?" Hermione asked, her eyes never leaving the flaccid boy lying so helpless in the stark white hospital bed.   
  
"I've done all I can for him. He now decides if he lives or dies. If he has the will to go on he will do so." She gave the girl an encouraging pat on the back before going to other parts of the infirmary.   
  
Hermione went to Draco's bedside and took one of his lifeless hands in both of her own. 'Draco you have to pull through; you have to want to live.' She put his hand back down at his side and stood there, watching over him. A single tear fell from her face and landed on his pale skin.   
  
She returned to her armchair and read while she waited for him to awaken again.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
Draco lay on the bed with his eyes closed, taking in what he had just heard. If he wanted to he could give up and die right now. After all, what was there left to live for? No one cared for him and no one would miss him if he were gone.   
  
It was then that she picked up his hand. She held it with such tenderness that it made him think for a second that maybe someone would care if he were to die. Then she put his hand back down. He nearly opened his eyes right then but kept them closed, hoping that sleep would come again. Before it could he felt the evidence of her tears on his skin. The tear landed on his palm and ran over his fingers and down onto the blanket.   
  
He heard her retreating footsteps and the sound of her sitting down again. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at her. She had not yet noticed he was awake. She was engrossed in her book. Half of her thick russet hair had pulled free of the tight plait she held it back in and covered her face, hiding all of her expressions.   
  
He smiled at the irony of the situation they found themselves in. He had no idea why he was here and why she stayed at his side. All he did know was that it was nice to have someone worried about you.   
  
She brushed her hair out of her face and saw him watching her. She closed her book and brought her chair closer to his bedside. She studied his face intently with her eyes before smiling at him.   
  
"Are you feeling any better?" She asked cautiously. This would be the first civilized conversation they had ever shared. He nodded, still not able to speak. Whenever he tried his throat burned from the potion he had taken earlier. "Good." She said.   
  
After an hour of sitting in silence Draco found it didn't hurt to speak anymore. "Why am I here?" He asked softly and coughed as his vocal cords became used to being used again.   
  
"You don't remember?" She said; he shook his head. "Then I have a very long story to tell you." She told him everything as he listened intently, hanging on her every word.   
  
He frowned when she told him about her vision concerning his abuse. He didn't like that she had witnessed that. It wasn't something he told people about, he was ashamed of his father for treating him that way and of himself for never standing up to him.   
  
Hermione ended her story and they both sat in silence. Madam Pomfrey interrupted the solemn moment by bustling in and scolding Draco for not remembering to take his medicine when he was supposed to. He swallowed another helping of the potion and shuddered as it made it's way through his system, burning his insides as it went.   
  
He motioned to his throat to tell Hermione that he wouldn't be able to talk for a while. She nodded in understanding and began talking again over various things. He listened until the potion wore off and he was able to contribute to the conversation.   
  
They talked for hours about teachers, schoolwork, and anything else that came into their minds. When Draco was finally ordered to go to sleep by the nurse Hermione curled back up in her armchair and was about to drift off when she heard Draco's voice.   
  
"You know, you really don't have to stay if you don't want to." He said as he burrowed further into his pillow.   
  
"No, it's okay. I want to make sure you'll be okay." She said and rested her head on the back of the chair. Something soft hit her in the side and she turned over, he had thrown her a pillow. She was just about to say thank you when she heard his soft, even breathing and realized he was asleep. She fluffed the pillow and went to sleep as well.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
Hermione went for breakfast and brought back a plate of fruit and rolls for herself and Draco. She ate her part and put what remained of the food on his bedside table for when he woke up.   
  
She was once again reading when he did awaken. He sat in silence for a moment before speaking.   
  
"You know, we have something in common, you and I." She looked at him and blinked, not knowing exactly how to respond to the statement.   
  
"And what is that?" She said and shut her book. He now had her full attention.   
  
"Our parents both don't want us." He said somberly; then he laughed. "It's kind of odd isn't it? Of all the people to have something in common it's us. I suppose it would be worse if it were Weasley or Potter though. You're not the worst person to share something with."   
  
Instead of his normal smirk he grinned at her. Her heart quickened but she found herself smiling back. "You're not so bad yourself Malfoy, for a ferret anyway." He hit her with his pillow, but she had expected that. She walked to his bedside and hit her with her own.   
  
"Hey that's not fair. You're not allowed to hit me with something I gave you. Truce?" He held out his hand before she could hit him again and she shook it.   
  
"Truce."   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
And that is chapter fourteen, only one more. I'm really sad. I love this story. It's a lot of fun to write. But now I have The Snake Charmer to work on, if you haven't read it already I highly recommend it. But then again I wrote it so I'm kind of biased. Read it if you have time.   
  
REVIEW! 


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Disclaimer - Looks at Harry Potter books. Nope, still not mine.   
  
Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. It amazed me at how many there were, I was seriously astounded. I've never received that many for one chapter before. Gracias.   
  
Sadly, this is the last chapter. You can mourn with me if you want, I'm really sad.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
The sun's rays shone in through the windows of the infirmary and Hermione blinked as they woke her up, the light being a great contrast in the dark room. She watched the blonde boy sleep soundly on his cot and smiled to herself. He looked so much more peaceful when he was sleeping, so carefree.   
  
The castle was completely still this early in the morning. She could hear the wind blowing through the trees outside and the birds beginning to chirp as they roused themselves from a long nights rest.   
  
Draco mumbled something in his sleep and turned over, falling off the bed. Hermione laughed and shook her head at him before going to his side to help him back into the bed, he was still very weak.   
  
"You're hopeless." She said as he crawled back into bed and rubbed his sore arm he had fallen on. He sent her a dirty look but the minute his head touched the pillow his eyes fell shut and he was asleep once again.   
  
Hermione crept from the hospital and made her way up to Gryffindor Tower. The common room and all the dorms were empty; she was the only one from her house that had stayed for the holidays. She opened the door to her room and went inside to change her clothing. She had been wearing the same thing since four days ago when she had flown to the manor.   
  
She slipped on a pair of blue jeans and her favorite white sweater. She ran a brush through her thick, curly tresses and pulled it back into a braid at the nape of her neck. Several of her curls hung loose and framed her face. Once she was satisfied with her appearance she grabbed her wand from the vanity and made her way to the kitchen for breakfast.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
Draco heard the retreating footsteps of Hermione as she left the infirmary. He slowly opened his eyes and gazed at the place she had been sitting, she had taken everything with her, leaving no evidence that she had ever been there.   
  
'Oh well, it was too good to last I guess.' He thought and closed his eyes once more. 'We could never be friends. Just think of who we are. We're just too different and we always will be.'   
  
As he went over this in his head he felt a pain in his heart, something he had never felt before. The feeling confused him. He had been raised to feel as little emotion as possible, to be made of stone. It was unfeasible not to feel any at all; he was, after all, still human. And yet suddenly he was submerged in a new pool of feelings that he had never experienced before. It scared him.   
  
He ignored the sensation, thinking it was just a delayed reaction to his injury and forced himself to drink another helping of his pain-killing potion. No matter how many times he drank it, the potion always burned on the way down. He closed his eyes and waited for the scorching feeling to die down.   
  
He lay his head back down on the bed and gazed up at the pure whiteness around him. The room was devoid of any color. It was almost unnerving, being the only thing that held color in the room, even someone as pale as he stood out. He turned his head slightly and stared out the window to his right. A thick blanket of snow covered the ground and gave the illusion that Hogwarts was some sort of a Winter Wonderland, and in a way it was.   
  
Madam Pomfrey scurried about the room, changing the sheets on the beds and refilling her medicine cabinet. She came to Draco's bedside and removed the empty vials on his table.   
  
"Good morning Mister Malfoy." She said and restocked his supply of medication. "Feeling any better this morning?"   
  
"A bit." He answered; his head still turned the opposite direction marveling at the glistening snow. "Do you know when I'll be able to leave?"   
  
She reached over and took his temperature.   
  
"Well your fever has finally left you but I want to keep you one or two more days to make sure you don't have any other complications." He sighed at the thought of spending any more time bedridden. "If you would like I can get your friend to bring you something to read."   
  
"She's not my friend." He said, although it pained him to admit. He secretly wished it were true, that they were, in fact, friends.   
  
"Well she sure was worried about you when she brought you in. Nearly swept me off my feet dragging me to your side. She does seem to care about what happens to you. But I guess that's not a friend." She smiled knowingly and left him to ponder what she had said.   
  
He was on the verge of falling asleep when Hermione came back into the room. He looked up at her through half lidded eyes and smirked.   
  
"Thought you'd left me." He mumbled sleepily.   
  
"Of course not. I can't leave you until I'm sure you'll live." She sat on the edge of his bed and popped the rest of a roll into her mouth.   
  
"I'll live." He assured her quietly and studied her face. Why had he never noticed the way her eyes lit up when she laughed? Or how beautiful her smile was? She grew uneasy under his intense gaze and turned slightly pink before looking away. He noticed how uncomfortable she was and snapped back to reality. "She says I have to stay for another day or two."   
  
"Is that all? I would think she would keep you longer. You were in such terrible shape when you got here." She turned to look at him, remembering the terror that day had held.   
  
"Why did you do it?" He asked and propped himself up a bit more on the mattress. "Why did you save me? I did nothing to deserve it."   
  
"Because it was the right thing to do." She said, a look of sadness and concern filled her eyes. "I am a Gryffindor after all, what did you expect?"   
  
They both laughed a little, shaking off the tense atmosphere of the moment for a while. Madam Pomfrey saw that Hermione returned and gave Draco a wink and a smile from the other side of the infirmary.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
"I'm free!" Draco shouted as he lept from his bed the next day. The nurse had just told him that he was allowed to leave the hospital. He grabbed Hermione's arms and pulled her along with him as he danced in circles around the bed.   
  
She laughed and let herself be turned around and around. He finally stopped and they both caught their breath.   
  
"Excited are you?" She said sarcastically and grinned broadly.   
  
"I'm free." He replied simply. He began to gather what possessions he had with him and getting ready to return to his own room.   
  
"I guess I'd be happy to if I had been forced to spend a week lying in a bed, doing absolutely nothing. It'd get rather dull." He mumbled something to the effect of, 'you have no idea,' and finished getting his supplies in order.   
  
They sat side by side on the bed for several minutes, not saying anything. Knowing that this could quite possibly be the last time they would ever speak kindly to one another, smile at each other, or even spend time together.   
  
"Well that's all of it then.' He said and picked up his belongings. "I guess I'll see you around."   
  
"Yeah," she said and began walking towards the door, "around."   
  
With every step she took a little bit of the warmth and happiness she had felt over the past week with Draco vanished. She longed to turn back and talk one more time, make him laugh again. But she didn't. She continued walking until she stood in front of the portrait of the fat woman in the pink dress.   
  
"Caritas." She said sadly and entered the common room. This morning she hadn't noticed the vast emptiness of it but now it overcame her. She was alone.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
Hermione stood in the middle on the Quidditch Pitch, her cobalt cloak hugged tightly to her for warmth, staring up at the angry gray sky. Large snowflakes fell and danced in the wind all around her, stinging her cheeks when they made contact.   
  
There was something else in the sky though. Invading the gray was a small green creature. Her eyes fixed on the green object as it swirled through the air. It battled with the wind before rapidly heading for the ground. Her eyes widened in terror but she found herself unable to move as the creature flew strait towards her.   
  
It made contact and knocked her off her feet before flying away again. Not able to find the strength to get up, Hermione lay in the snow, still looking at the falling crystals. She closed her eyes and let them daintily land on her cheeks and lips. When she reopened her eyes she found herself staring face to face with a large black animal.   
  
Energy coursed back through her veins and she hurried away from it, only to find herself completely surrounded. They were closing in all around her, forming a tight circle of black in the pure whiteness of the snow. There was no escape.   
  
It was the Duisternis, a creature they had been studying with Hagrid. They must have broken out of their pen, and they could be very fierce and aggressive in groups.  
  
Hermione frantically glanced around for anything she could use for protection but found nothing. She one again looked to the sky. There was her green creature once again. It was hurling towards the earth quickly, right at her once more. This time she did not feel afraid. She embraced the impact of the creature with open arms and closed eyes.   
  
She felt herself being lifted from the ground, up into the frigid air. One of the black animals gripped her arm in an attempt to hold her back, cutting into her flesh, but it was too late. She was beyond their reach now.   
  
She felt herself soaring higher and higher as the green creature carried her away, to safety. Only when she felt her feet on the ground did she open her eyes. Her white sweater was stained crimson from the cut on her arm. She tried her best to hold the wound shut but it was to no avail, it kept bleeding.   
  
"Here," the green creature said. They picked up a handful of snow and placed it on the injury, applying pressure as it did so. The colorless snow was turned a deep red from her blood and melted away from its' warmth. Hermione looked upon her green creature for the first time, and found herself staring into Draco Malfoy's stormy gray eyes.   
  
"Thank you." She said quietly and traced his profile with her free hand. He smiled and helped her to her feet. They both stood and looked around at the snow.   
  
"You know, some people say I'm made of ice." He said, more to himself than to her, taking the hand that she still had against his cheek into his. "I guess this is almost like a second home to me. That means you're standing on my property. You're standing on my soul." He directed her hand to his lips, and he brushed the fingers against them.   
  
He looked at her, his eyes penetrating what defenses she had left. She felt strangely vulnerable, standing so close to him, and found it hard to breathe.   
  
"Do you think I'm cold Hermione?" He asked quietly.   
  
"No." She whispered. She could see his warm breath in the chilly night. She saw the red flush in his cheeks that had been a result of flying into the wind. In one moment she memorized his entire body, his stature, his persona. He smiled and brought his face down to hers, their lips meeting for the first time.   
  
The feeling of his lips on hers was electric and sent Hermione into a daze. She stood motionless as his soft lips caressed her own in a gentleness she never expected from him.   
  
She timidly brought her hands up and put them around his neck, pulling him closer to her. One hand played with the soft hair at the base of his neck while the other held him close. His own hands joined at her waist.   
  
Hermione began to move her lips against his. The friction elicited a gasp of pleasure from each of them. While her mouth was open, Draco took the liberty of tenderly sliding his tongue inside, deepening the kiss.   
  
Hermione moaned as it made contact with her own and gingerly explored his mouth with her tongue. She felt foolish doing it as it was her first time to go this far in a kiss but he seemed to enjoy it as he pulled her even closer to him and smiled against her lips.   
  
Hermione finally pulled away so they both could catch their breath. They stood forehead to forehead, looking into each other's eyes, lips swollen and red from the tedious exercise. Draco absentmindedly ran his fingers up and down Hermione's spine, causing her to shiver at the touch and smile up at him.   
  
"I'm going to have a lot to explain to Harry and Ron when they get back." She joked.   
  
"Hush, you're going to ruin the moment talking about those two." He said and tilted her chin up with his fingers. He lowered his head and claimed her lips with his own once more.   
  
-=-=-=-   
  
And that's it; it's all over. I'm crying. It's very sad for me. I've spent nearly three months of my life on this story and now it's done. Oh well, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it.   
  
Unfortunately, there will be no sequel so please don't ask for one. If I did end up writing a sequel it would turn out all fluffy and such and that's not what I like to write so, no sequel. Kapeesh?   
  
Please review and tell me what you thought. I strive on reviews. They keep me going sometimes. Plus, the button is conveniently located at the bottom of the screen where you end up after reading this anyway. Imagine that.   
  
REVIEW! 


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